How to Train Your Dragon: The Movie
by Catnip-Packet
Summary: When I fall seriously head over heels in love with a movie, it's hard to resist writing it out as a story. And the junior novelization was way too simple...here's How to Train Your Dragon, the movie, as a story.
1. This is Berk

**Hello, everybody! I'm back with another story! I don't know it this idea has been done already (it might, somebody's bound to do it sooner or later because...well, duh.), but even if it has, I'm doing it anyway. I don't remember the entire dialogue, so tell me if I make any mistakes. Mucho thank yous, and now you can read! **

**Enjoy!**

**PS I do not own this movie. I am simply writing it out for enjoyment. :D**

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**How to Train Your Dragon: The Movie**

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**Chapter One: This is Berk**

The sky is so black that you can almost see whole galaxies if you look close enough, but it's still morning. Well, really early morning anyway. The angry white-capped ocean waves crash against the shore of our island as the wind rushes through the trees and whistles through the village.

_This is Berk. It's twelve degrees North of Hopeless and just a few degrees South of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word: sturdy. It's been here for several generations but every single building is new. We've got fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, some places have mice, or mosquitoes._

_We have dragons._

I slammed the door shut behind me as a brilliantly red dragon shot a big plume of fire straight at it. I could feel the burning heat through the door as my back pressed into it, and though I wasn't strong at all I managed to keep the door shut. Then I peeked out, checked that the coast was clear, and dashed outside into the chaos.

_Fighting dragons is everything around here. Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We've got stubbornness issues._

A giant brown dragon that looked like a cross between a pig and a bumblebee flew past me. A Viking was hanging off its head, whacking it with a stone hammer. It was having absolutely zero effect.

_My name is Hiccup. Great name, I know, but it's not the worst. Parents think a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that._

I tripped over a rock and landed on my back on the grassy floor. I gasped as a large, menacing looking Viking landed almost on top of me and let out a loud battle cry. When he saw it was just me, he gave me a sloppy grin and said, "'Mornin'!" before springing up and dashing off back into battle.

I got up too and kept running, trying to find a place where I could be safe and help out at the same time. As I ran, every single person I passed yelled at me. "What are you doing out here?" "Get back inside!" "Get in the house!" I ignored them and keep going, but before I could get any further, a large hand grabbed my vest from behind and pulled me back, my feet dangling about two feet off the ground. The hand belonged to a huge Viking with a large red beard and a moustache. "Hiccup?" he said in quite the annoyed tone. "What are you—who let him out? Get in the house!" He threw me on the floor, and I quickly got up and ran away from him.

_That's Stoick the Vast, chief of our tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean of its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes I do. _I glanced back behind me and saw him punch a dragon right in the snout. He turned to one of his men and asked in a commanding voice, "What have we got?"

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoerk saw a Monstrous Nightmare," the Viking reeled off.

"Any Night Furies?" demanded Stoick.

The Viking shook his head. "Not so far."

Stoick nodded and absent-mindedly brushed a flaming piece of wood off his shoulder. "Good. Hoist the torches!"

The Vikings lighted large braziers and raised them on poles into the air. The firelight revealed dozens of dragons flying overhead.

I finally reached my destination and dashed inside the blacksmith's cabin. "Nice of you to join the party!" a burly Viking with a long braided moustache greeted me, using his artificial hand (replaced with a hammer) to hammer a piece of red-hot metal into shape. "I thought you might have been carried off!"

"Who, me?" I said like the idea was ludicrous, which it kinda is, "No, no…I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste." I lifted an enormous hammer into a hanging position on the wall beside me and flexed my arm. "They wouldn't know what to do with all…this…" I waved my hands around my torso, trying to conjure up a few muscles.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" the Viking asked innocently, grabbing a sword and a couple of axes and tossing them out the window to a few more Vikings approaching. He tugged the hammer off his hand and replaced it with a wrench to work on another project.

_The meathead with the interchangeable hands and the attitude is Gobber. I've been his apprentice since I was little. Well, littler than now, anyway._

"Lower the defences! We'll counter attack with the catapults!" Stoick yelled. There was an enormous crash, and I looked up to see one house collapse into a pile of blazing wood and metal. _See? Old village, lots of new houses._

As I rushed forward to help with something, a small group of people dashed past the window, arguing and shouting. I dashed up to the window to look. They were all kids my age, about fourteen or so, swarming around a cannon, all carrying buckets of water to dump on a nearby fire. _Oh, and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and—_

A girl with blonde hair that was in a tight braid and secured on top with a headband dashed forward with her bucket and chucked the contents straight at the fire. As she swung herself around to walk forward, a dragon shot a big missile of fire right behind her, creating a big dramatic burst of flames behind her as she walked, almost in slow-motion, away from the cannon…

_…Astrid…!_

I must have looked totally stupid with my hair blowing back from the explosion and my eyes shining with the reflected fire, gazing at her slender form. Whenever that girl was around, I could hardly tell where I was standing. She was pretty, she was tough, she was brave, and she was perfect. I was totally smitten the first time I had set eyes on her, but she never gave me the time of day. It's probably because she's too determined to achieve greatness to notice me.

The kids ran past my window again, laughing and high-fiving, even though all they had done was throw water on a fire. _Oh, their jobs are so much cooler._ I leaned out of the window, my elbows resting in the sill, to get a better look at them, and immediately was lifted of the ground by Gobber, who pulled me back inside.

"Come on, get back inside," he said in a bored voice.

"Oh come on," I said in exasperation. "Let me out! I need to make my mark!"

"Oh, but you have made marks!" Gobber said, staring at me. "Just all in the wrong places!"

"Please," I begged. "Two minutes is all I ask, I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date."

Gobber looked at me with what looked like a mixture of amusement, shock, and pity. "You can't throw a hammer," he said, not taking his eyes off mine, "You can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" He held up a bolas, a type of slingshot weapon with two round stones attached to the ends. A Viking snatched the bolas from behind Gobber and twirled it around in his fingers before flinging it into the sky and bringing down a Gronkle.

"Yeah, okay. But this," I said, suddenly proud, "Can throw it for me." I lifted a tarp off something I had put in the corner and displayed my invention: a bolas cannon. I patted it fondly. My touch must have activated it, though, because it suddenly sprang to life, opened up, and shot a bolas at lightning speed past Gobber. It nailed a Viking on the head, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Now, look here, this is exactly what I'm talking about!" Gobber yelled, suddenly angry with me.

"Minor calibration issue," I mumbled. "I'll fix it—"

"Hiccup, if you ever want to kill dragons, you have to stop all _this_," finished Gobber, sweeping his hands in front of me.

"But you just gestured to all of me," I said, confused.

"Exactly," he said in a satisfied sort of way. "Stop beling all of you."

"Oooohhhh…" I said as it dawned on me.

"Oooohhhh, yeah…" Gobber mimicked me, nodding his head.

"You, sir, are playing a very dangerous game here," I said, trying to sound menacing. "Keeping this much raw Vikingness contained?" I shook my finger in his face. "There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances," Gobber said sarcastically. "Sword. Sharpened. Now." He dumped a sword in my arms. I grunted with the weight of it and struggled over to the grinder to have it sharpened.

_One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head would at least get me noticed. Gronkles are tough. Killing one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend. A Hideous Zippleback—exotic. Two heads, twice the status. And a Monstrous Nightmare…only the best Vikings go after those. They have a nasty habit of setting themselves on fire. But the ultimate prize is the dragon that nobody's ever seen. We call it—_

A high pitched whistling sound suddenly appeared, cutting through the air, getting louder and louder. I could hear the screams of the Vikings, and that was rare. "NIGHT FURY!" cried one of the scouts. "Get down!" screamed another. A bright blue ball of fire came streaking through the air and exploded on impact, shattering one of the trebuchets to pieces. I gasped and raced to the window again. _This thing never steals anything, never shows itself, and never misses. No one has ever caught one. That's why I'm going to be the first._

"Mind the fort, Hiccup," Gobber said, taking the wrench out of his hand and inserting a big axe. "They need me out there." He turned to me. "Stay."

I stared.

"Here," he said.

I was still staring, wondering what 'here' meant, exactly.

"In the shop," he said, looking impatient to get out into the battle. "You know what I mean." With that, he let out a battle cry and hobbled out of the shop on his wooden leg (he's lost two limbs now—I'm almost jealous), waving his axe-hand menacingly.

Seconds later, I was running outside again, steering my bolas cannon down the chaotic streets of the village, shouting apologies to the people I almost ran in to. When I finally reached the edge of a steep cliff, away from the heart of the battle, I set the cannon down on the grass, opened up the hatch on the top, and unfolded the whole thing so that I was holding a powerful crossbow/cannon in front of me. I stood up and held the sides of the cannon in my hands, steering it around in the air. "Come on," I whispered. "Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at…" I had positioned myself beside the West Cannon, because I knew that the Night Fury would be targeting it next. And sure enough…

A high-pitched dragon cry cut through the air. I hunched my shoulders and scanned the area. Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared, the disappearance of a dragon-shaped group of stars the only sign that the Night Fury was around. I frantically spun the crossbow around, trying to aim. The whistling sound suddenly cut through the air again, and seconds later there was a huge explosion to my left as the dragon's fire hit its mark. I aimed the crossbow and pulled the trigger.

I was blown backward onto my back as the bolas erupted from the cannon and hurled, spinning rapidly, through the air. I quickly scrambled up just as a piercing dragon scream rang through my ears. My breath coming in short ragged gasps, I watched in wonder as a dark shape streaked towards the South of the island, falling, flightless, to the ground.

The dragon.

"I hit it?" I gasped in disbelief. Then I leaped up and flung my arms into the sky in jubilation. "Yes, I HIT IT!" I twirled around and spread my arms. "Did anybody see that?" Suddenly I smelled smoke, and a sickening crunching sound came from behind me. I slowly turned to see a bright red dragon with twisting black horns staring at me with a murderous look on its face, my crushed bolas cannon in a million pieces underneath its claws. It growled and lowered its head to stare at me with bulging yellow eyes with narrow pupils. A Monstrous Nightmare. "Except you," I said, sounding much braver than I felt.

The dragon chased after me, snapping its jaws at my heels as I screamed in terror and scrambled over rocks, trying to get down the hill and back to the (somewhat) safety of the village. I dashed behind one of the braziers and cowered behind it, my chest heaving. All at once the pole was hit from the back with a pounding blast of lava-like fire, and I balled my hands and put my arms in front of my face in a weak attempt to shield myself. The fire crackling, I slowly peered around the edge of the pole. All I saw was a dragon's tail. It was snaking around the other side. Which could only mean that the head was—

A blur shot past me and the dragon let out a hoarse cry of pain shockingly close to my ear as Stoick punched it right in the snout. I watched fearfully as he faced off with the dragon. The Nightmare opened its mouth and tried to blast the chief with fire, but it was out of fuel. Each dragon had a limited number of shots at a time. The dragon burped out a tiny gob of sticky fire and looked at Stoick sheepishly. "You're all out," Stoick whispered menacingly. Then he charged at the dragon with a mighty battle cry.

After a few hard punches to the jaw and head, the Nightmare got the idea that it wasn't really such a great idea to fight with this guy and flew off, whimpering. I quickly ducked behind the pillar again, out of Stoick's sight. I knew he would be mad.

Just then, the fire ate through the bottom of the brazier, and it finally toppled over like a tree, revealing me standing there behind it, staring at Stoick, at a loss for words. Me, I mean, at a loss for words. Not Stoick. The brazier, dragged down considerably faster because of the enormous supply of lighted coal in the basket at the top, practically flew to the ground and smashed into a bridge, reducing it to a pile of splintered wood and metal pile that resembled my cannon. The basket separated from the top of the column and rolled through the village, crashing into several homes, and running over a few people before rolling right into the ocean and disappearing with a hiss.

I winced at every cry of pain that came from the villagers as the flame basket did its damage.

The dragons, carrying whatever food they had managed to steal from us, were flying away into the sunrise. The bleats of the sheep that they carried echoed over the water. They were gone from sight within a minute. Everybody just stood and watched. Then they all turned—every single person—and glared at me.

Especially Stoick.

_Oh, and there's one more thing you ought to know…_

"Sorry, Dad," I said sheepishly.

Everybody just stared at me some more. I looked over at the ruined bridge, assessing the damage. The pillar was still lying in the middle of it. Some of the other Vikings began to take interest in my (indirect) destruction too. As I glanced back at Stoick, my dad, I could see that his gaze hadn't wavered from my face.

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury," I said, jabbing a thumb at the bridge.

"This isn't like all of the other times, Dad!" I cried as he dragged me through the village by the back of my vest. I saw Gobber staring at me with a pitying expression. "I really did hit one this time! You guys were busy, and I had a very clear shot! It went down just off Raven Point! Let's get a search party out there, and then we can—"

"Hiccup, stop, just—stop," Stoick interrupted, holding up his hands for silence. I shut my mouth and winced. "Hiccup, I don't have time for this," he said in exasperation. "Every time you step outside, disaster happens. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter approaches and I have a whole village to feed!"

I glanced behind me at a few of the fatter Vikings and said, "Just between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" There were a few gripes from the Vikings behind me, and I was sure they had all rubbed their bellies.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick burst out, looking tired. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself," I say, trying to defend myself. "I see a dragon and I just have to—" I made a violent hand gesture with my hands—"I just have to kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad."

The anger from Stoick's face suddenly dimmed a bit, and something else appeared. Was it pity? "You are many things, Hiccup," he said. "But a dragon killer is not one of them." He strode away from me and began to walk toward the damage I'd done. "Get back to the house." I hung my head, feeling embarrassed and ignored. "Make sure he gets home," Stoick said sullenly, gesturing towards Gobber to indicate that it was him he was talking to, "I've got his mess to clean up." The crowd began to mutter, and some people gave me the evil eye. Gobber cuffed me on the back of my head. "C'mon, get going," he muttered. We started moving through the crowd of villagers toward my house at the very top of the hill.

I could hear the twins laughing at me as I trudged home. "Quite the performance," Tuffnut hissed at me as we passed the other kids.

"I've never seen _anyone_ mess up so bad. That helped!" Snotlout added meanly. Ruffnut and Tuffnut snickered and punched each other. Fishlegs gave me the same scared look he always wore. Astrid was fingering her axe and looking down. Astrid… "Yes, yes, thank you, I was trying, so..." I said in a bored voice, waving Snotlout's insult away as I passed. I heard him cry out in pain as Gobber knocked him over for insulting me, which gave me a faint burst of satisfaction, but I wasn't entirely content. For one thing, Astrid had seen me totally mess up. For another thing, nobody had seen me shoot down that Night Fury. For another thing, I was in trouble again.

"I really did hit one," I said to Gobber as I neared the house.

"Sure you did," soothed Gobber, not really believing me. I knew he was trying to make me feel better (even he showed me some compassion sometimes; he was more like a father to me than Stoick ever has been, I shudder to say), but he still sounded false.

"I wish I could get him to believe me," I burst out as I reached my front door. I turned around to face Gobber so I could rant some more. "But he never listens!"

"Well, it runs in the family," said Gobber.

"And when he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." I straightened my back and held up a finger like I knew Stoick would do. "'Excuse me, barmaid!'" I mimicked in Stoick's Scottish accent, "'I think you've brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side! This here, this is a talkin' fish bone!'"

"Now, you're thinking about this all wrong…" soothed Gobber, holding out his hands. "It's not so much what you look like on the outside, it's what's inside of you that he can't stand!"

I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. I gave him my best withering look. "Thank you for summing that up," I said, being equally sarcastic.

Gobber must have realized he had insulted me, because he quickly switched to a softer tone. "The point is, stop trying so hard to be something that you're not!"

"I just wanna be one of you guys," I said softly, entering the house and quietly closing the door behind me.

I heard Gobber sigh through the door. As he turned and began to make his way down the hill, I opened the back door, jumped out, and ran off into the woods were my dragon had gone down.

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**I think this chapter was a bit too long, but I didn't want to split it up into separate chapters. Ah, well. Please tell me what you think of it so far. I'm having a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you're having fun reading it!**


	2. The Downed Dragon

**Next chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and added my story and stuff! It made me feel so happy to see my inbox stuffed full of awesomeness! **

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**Chapter Two: The Downed Dragon**

"Either we finish them, or they finish us."

Stoick slammed his knife into the map of Berk in front of him. The blade went straight through the illustration of a dragon drawn on the corner of the map. "It's the only way we'll get rid of them. If we break the nest, the dragons will leave. They'll find a new home! One more search, before the ice sets."

"But Stoick," called one Viking with dark brown hair and a matching moustache and beard, "Those ships never come back."

"We're Vikings," Stoick answered back, "It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?" All the Vikings shuffled their feet and wrung their hands and stared up at the sky.

"Alright," Stoick said, "Whoever stays will look after Hiccup."

Every single Viking in the room eagerly raised their hands and voiced their enthusiasm.

"Thought so," Stoick said in a satisfied way. Having Hiccup for a son did have its upsides.

As the Vikings dispersed, Stoick strode over to Gobber, who was sitting at the back of the room, sipping a mug of ale that was affixed to his missing hand. "I'll go pack my undies, then," he said, wiping his mouth and pushing back the bench he was sitting on.

"No," said Stoick, sitting down beside his friend. "I need you to train some new recruits."

"Oh, perfect," said Gobber with an enthusiastic voice dripping with sarcasm, "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the store. Molten steel, razor-sharp blades, lots of time to himself-what could possibly go wrong?"

Stoick sighed heavily. "What am I going to do with him, Gobber?"

"Put him in training with the rest of the kids," Gobber answered back casually.

"I'm serious," Stoick muttered, thinking Gobber was making a joke.

"So am I," Gobber replied seriously.

"_What?_" Stoick looked up, shocked that Gobber was actually serious, "I can't do that, he'd be killed before you let a dragon into the ring!"

"Aw, you don't know that," Gobber scoffed.

"I do know that," Stoick muttered.

"Actually, no you don't," countered Gobber.

"Actually, yes I do…"

"No, you don't…"

"Yes I do!"

"No, you don't!"

"You know what he's like," Stoick grumbled. "From the time he could crawl, he's been...different. He doesn't listen, he has the attention span of a sparrow...I mean, I take him fishing, and he goes hunting for...for trolls!"

"Trolls exist!" Gobber said thoughtfully. "They steal your socks, but only the left ones, I mean, what's up with that?"

Stoick looked up and gazed off into the distance. "When I was a boy…"

"Oh, here we go," grumbled Gobber.

"My father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it. I thought he was crazy, but I didn't question him! And do you know what happened?"

"You got a headache," Gobber said sourly.

"_That rock spilt in two_," Stoick said dramatically, standing up and walking over to an enormous tapestry that showed a Viking beheading a struggling dragon, "It taught me what a Viking can do, Gobber! He can crush mountains, level forests, tame seas!" He sat back down beside Gobber. "I was only a boy, and yet I knew who I was and what I had to become." He turned and looked sadly at Gobber. "Hiccup is not that boy."

Stoick let out a deep sigh. Gobber turned to his friend and put a beefy hand on his shoulder.

"You can't stop him, Stoick," Gobber said gently. "You can only prepare him. I know it seems hopeless, but the fact is, you're not always going to be here to protect him. He's going to get out there again. He's probably out there right now…"

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Deep in the forest, I was scrutinizing a map that I had drawn of Berk, and of all the possible places a dragon could have landed, which was practically anywhere.

I scribbled all over the drawing in frustration and snapped it shut, tucking it into my vest. "Oh, the gods hate me," I moaned.

I climbed over a particularly large rock and frowned at myself. "Some people lose their knife, or their mug. Me? No, I have to lose an entire dragon!" I swiped at a low-hanging branch, which promptly flipped back and slapped me in the face. I painfully rubbed my cheek and then noticed why the branch was so low. The tree it was attached to had been snapped in two. So had quite a few other trees. The row of snapped trees formed almost a path that lead straight down…and then slanted up…and disappeared right over a hill.

It was almost like something had plummeted out of the sky and crashed through…

Something like a dragon…

I walked over to the hill, which was so steep that I almost had to use my hands to pull myself up. I pushed myself up and raised my head over the hill—and ducked back down with a gasp. My heart started pounding triple time.

A great black scaly dragon body entangled in my bolas was lying over the hill, its wings at an awkward angle and sticking straight up into the sky.

I cautiously peered over the hill again, then pulled out my six inch dagger and slid down the other side of the hill, ducking behind a rock for a few second to gather my thoughts—and then I walked in front of the dragon.

It wasn't that big compared to all of the other dragons I had seen, but here, not five feet away from where I stood, it was enormous. It had a round (almost flat, actually, but round shaped) head and short stocky legs that ended with vicious looking claws. It had a long tail with spines running down its back. It wasn't actually black, but rather a really dark blue. Just like the night sky.

A real Night Fury. And I was standing right in front of it!

"Oh," I gasped, almost dropping the dagger in shock. "Wow...I-I did it! Oh, I did it! This-this fixes everything! YES!" I stepped forward and planted one of my boots on the dragon's side. "I have brought down this mighty beast!" But then I screamed in shock and leaped back, because the dragon had just let out an abrupt roar and started to draw in deep breaths, making a mysterious fiery whistling noise.

It was still alive.

I stuck my dagger out in front of me and tiptoed forward, much less sure of myself this time. I gulped as I looked at the dragon's face.

Its eyes were open. Big yellow-green slanted eyes like a cat, and they were staring at me. No, they were staring _through_ me.

I gulped again and then, trying to be brave, I turned the dagger around in my hands so that the blade was pointing downward. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon," I whispered, "I'm gonna...I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a Viking." I shut my eyes and breathed in, trying to calm myself. Suddenly I felt angry with myself for not living up to the traditional Viking standards. "I am a VIKING!" I yelled at the dragon, taking my anger out on it. Then I straightened and my hands tightened around the hilt of the blade. I shut my eyes again and took deep breaths, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I raised the dagger high above my head and prepared to drive it down into the dragon's hide. Before I made the move, I slowly opened my eyes.

The dragon was still looking at me with some profound emotion.

I closed my eyes and shook my head quickly; trying to force my hands down and get the job over and done with. But I couldn't.

The dragon moaned, closed its eyes, and laid its head on the ground, accepting its fate.

I hung my head. And lowered my arms. "I did this," I whispered, gazing at the dragon. It didn't look evil anymore. It looked helpless. Hopeless. I took a few steps back and glanced behind me at the forest. I lowered my head and took a deep breath.

And before I knew what I was doing, I was on my knees, cutting through the ropes with my dagger.

The moment the ropes fell slack around the dragon's body, it leaped up and with one move pinned me to the ground.

Its eyes, the fearful ones that had stared at me only seconds before, were now filled with rage. Its claw pressed me down hard into the ground. I clawed at the earth, panting and staring up at the beast with fear. I knew death was coming.

It bared its teeth and growled.

And then it jumped off my chest and let out a long piercing, angry roar right in my face. It whipped around and took off, roaring. I followed it with my gaze as it glided through the forest. The roars echoed around the trees.

I shakily closed my fingers around the dagger and got to my feet. I turned, took two steps back toward the village, and fainted dead away.

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**Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Tell me what you think and stay tuned!**


	3. Dragon Training

**I altered this chapter just a bit to make it more accurate. Backroads kindly pointed out some mistakes in the setting and dialogue and such. THANK YOU FOR POINTING THEM OUT! :3**

**So here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Three: Dragon Training**

It was night when I got back home. I opened the huge wooden door as quietly as I could, and inched around it before shutting it slowly. Stoick was at the hearth, poking at the coals in the fire with a poker. He hadn't seen me yet. I tiptoed behind him and was crawling up the stairs on my hands and knees in order to avoid squeaks when I heard him speak.

"Hiccup."

"Dad!" I said, almost banging my head on the step I was crawling over, "Uh, I need to talk to you…"

"I need to talk to you too, son," Stoick confessed, standing up and wringing his hands. We both took deep breaths and waited for the other to start speaking.

"I think it's time to let you learn to fight dragons," said Stoick.

"I've decided I don't want to fight dragons," I said, at the exact same time.

"Wait, what?" we both said together.

"You go first," Stoick said.

"No, you," I said, carefully walking down the steps.

Stoick clapped his enormous hands together. "Right." He looked at me like I had defeated him. "You got your wish. Dragon training. You start tomorrow."

"Oh man, I should have gone first," I groaned, "You know, Dad, I was thinking…we have a surplus of dragon fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home repair Vikings, or—"

"You'll need this," Stoick said, dropping a large axe into my arms. I struggled to hold it up. "I don't want to kill dragons," I said.

Stoick let out a loud, booming laugh. "Of course you do!" He chuckled, turning around.

"Rephrase," I said. "Dad, I _can't_ kill dragons!"

Stoick turned around to look at me again. "But you will kill dragons."

"Actually, I'm pretty extra sure that I won't—"

"Hiccup, it's time," said Stoick, approaching me.

"Can you not hear me?" I pleaded.

"This is serious, son," said Stoick. He took the axe out of my hands. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us—" he dropped the axe in my arms again and straightened my shoulders for me. "—you think like us. No more of—" he gestured to me. "—this."

"But you just gestured to all of me!" I said indignantly.

"Deal?" Stoick said, ignoring me.

"This conversation is feeling very one sided," I said in frustration.

"Deal?" Stoick repeated, narrowing his eyes.

I sighed heavily. "Deal."

Stoick slung his sack over his back. "Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here," I said miserably, still holding the axe, watching my dad walk away. The door slammed behind him. "Maybe."

* * *

The next day dawned bright but cloudy. I hid at the back of the group and hoped Gobber wouldn't notice me. Why was he teaching training, anyway?

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber announced, swinging open the gate that lead to the battle ring.

"No turning back," I heard Astrid say under her breath. We all walked into the ring, looking around and taking in our new surroundings. I wasn't all that impressed.

"I'm hoping to get some serious burns," Tuffnut said, who was carrying a large axe in one hand. Unlike me, he had no trouble holding it up.

"I'm hoping for some mauling," said Ruffnut, his sister, who was also carrying her own axe. "Like on my shoulder, or lower back."

"Yep," Astrid said, "It's no fun unless you get a scar out of it."

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" I said in a bored tone. Everyone turned to look at me. "Pain. Love it."

"Aw, great, who let him in?" Tuffnut complained loudly.

Gobber approached and either didn't hear or pretended he didn't hear Tuffnut's comment. "Let's get started! The recruit who does the best at dragon training will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Um, Hiccup already killed a Night Fury," said Snotlout mockingly, "So does that disqualify him, or...?" The twins burst out laughing as he snickered. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"

"Now, Hiccup," said Gobber, leading me to the centre of the ring with the other kids, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. You're small, and weak, so you have an advantage! They'll see you as sick or insane, and go after the more Viking-like teens. Heh, heh," he laughed at his own joke. I didn't find it funny.

I got in line with the other kids, next to Fishlegs. We nodded at each other in a way of greeting. Then we all faced Gobber, who was pacing in front of a door in the side of the arena that was barred off. Something on the inside rammed against the door and roared, causing all of us except Astrid to take a step back. "Now, inside these doors are only a few of the dragons you'll get to meet," Gobber started. "The Deadly Nadder—"

Fishlegs whispered some stats to himself. "Speed, 8, armour, 16."

"—the Hideous Zippleback—"

"Plus eleven stealth, times two..." Fishlegs murmured.

"—the Monstrous Nightmare—"

"Firepower fifteen..."

"—the Terrible Terror—"

"Attack eight, venom twelve..."

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?" Gobber yelled at Fishlegs. "And the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength eight," Fishlegs whispered to me as Gobber placed a hand on the bar of the door. Snotlout suddenly stepped forward, looking panicked. "Wait, aren't you gonna teach us something first?" he cried, sounding genuinely scared.

"I believe in learning on the job," said Gobber matter-of-factly.

And he unbarred the door.

Not half a second later the doors flew open and a huge brown Gronkle shot out, growling deep in its throat, its wings buzzing like a bumblebee's. Everyone scattered, looking for a place to run. The Gronkle wasn't very good at manoeuvring through the air, and it crashed into the wall, dislodging a few rocks. It scooped one up in its mouth and prepared to shoot it out at one of us.

"Today is about survival," Gobber yelled as we screamed in terror. "If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you'll need?"

"A doctor?" I cried.

"Plus five speed?" pleaded Fishlegs.

"A shield!" Astrid exclaimed, not taking her eyes off the hovering Gronkle.

"Shields! Go!" said Gobber, pointing toward a large plank of wood off to the side that was laden with shields. I hadn't even noticed it before.

I raced to the shields along with everyone else. Most of us grabbed the first one we saw and got back into the battle, but the twins immediately started quarrelling. I was searching for a handle to hold onto when Gobber picked up the shield, shoved it into my chest and pushed me back into the centre of the arena. "The most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must make a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield."

"Let go of my shield!" yelled Tuffnut, who was having a tug-of-war with Ruffnut over a shield with two skulls and orange flames.

"There's like a million shields!" Ruffnut yelled back, tugging harder on her side.

"Take that one. It has a flower on it," Tuffnut said, gesturing to the side towards another shield, "Girls like flowers." Ruffnut yanked the shield out of her brother's hands and with one strong blow whacked him over the head with it. Tuffnut swayed on the spot, slightly dazed, as Ruffnut made an innocent face. "Oops! Now this one has blood on it."

They were so busy arguing that they didn't notice the Gronkle's shot blasting toward them until it had hit the shield in question and shattered it, sending them both tumbling to the side.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber shouted, sounding happy. The twins groggily raised their heads off the stone. "Huh?"

"Those shields are good for another thing: noise!" Gobber told us. "Make lots of it! Throw off a dragon's aim." The remaining four of us immediately began knocking our axes against our shields, emitting a hollow clanking noise. Astrid backed away from the Gronkle slowly, still making noise. Snotlout danced over to its left. Fishlegs and I went to its right. I tried to hide behind the empty shield stand.

"Every dragon has a limited amount of fuel," Gobber said. "Can anybody tell me how many shots the Gronkle has?"

"Five?" guessed Snotlout, running with his shield above his head.

Fishlegs turned to Gobber and dropped his shield. "No, I know! It's six!" The Gronkle buzzed up behind him and blasted the ground near his heels. "Correct! Six! That's one for each of you!" Gobber cheered as Fishlegs dropped his shield and took off screaming with his arms in the air. The Gronkle buzzed after him, firing at him once more. "Fishlegs, out."

Snotlout and Astrid were standing off to the side. Astrid was standing in a slight crouch, ready to spring at any second, while Snotlout stood casually behind her and talked.

"So I just moved into my parent's basement," Snotlout said, trying to be suave while he and Astrid avoided the Gronkle. Astrid cartwheeled away from him and he called after her, "You should come over sometime to work out! You look like you work out!" He was blasted by the Gronkle as soon as he words left his mouth.

"Snotlout, you're done," Gobber said.

Astrid executed another cartwheel and landed with a grunt beside me. I bravely took a shot at conversation. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"

"Nope, just you," Astrid replied, cartwheeling away again. I looked after her. "Huh?" Just then the Gronkle took a shot at me. It whizzed right over my head, and I yelped and dropped my shield. "One shot left!" Gobber called. The Gronkle chased after me as I chased after my shield. The shield hit the wall of the arena and bounced off. I tried to go after it, but the Gronkle knocked me to the floor and I found myself pinned down by a dragon for the second time in less than twenty four hours. "HICCUP!" Gobber cried, sounding genuinly scared for me. I stared in fear at the Gronkle. I could see a ball of fire welling up in the back of it throat. As I was about to accept my horrible fate, Gobber suddenly appeared and knocked the Gronkle's head away. The shot exploded about three feet above my head. "And that's six," Gobber said, grabbing the Gronkle by the lower jaw and wrestling it away. "Back to your cage, you overgrown sausage!"

The class regrouped, panting and rubbing the places where they had fallen on. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry," Gobber said. "And remember: be careful." He locked eyes with me. "Dragons always, always go for the kill."

The class walked away, talking excitedly. I just stared at the smouldering crater in the wall where the Gronkle had fired at. And then a thought struck my head…

* * *

"So why didn't you?" I murmured, picking up one of the ends of the bolas and weighing the rock in my hand. I stared at the ground thoughtfully. Why did the Night Fury spare me? I dropped the bolas in the dirt and stood up. Then I began to travel through the forest. I came to a gap in the rocks that lead to a large cove that I had never discovered before. It had a wide lake and looked like a fantastic vacation spot. But the Night Fury was nowhere to be seen. "Well, this was stupid," I said bitterly. Just then, something shiny caught my eye, and I bent down to look. On the ground were a few round scales the size of the rock on the end of the bolas, and they were shiny and very dark blue. I picked one up and looked carefully at it. It was hard and sort of like rock. As I looked at it closer, something suddenly shot up in front of me with a shriek, and I fell back.

It was the Night Fury.

It was scrabbling at the rocks above me, trying to get itself up, but something seemed to be dragging it down. It shoved off the rocks and glided down to the riverbank with a frustrated roar. Fascinated, I slid down the rocks to get a better view. The dragon tried to take off the ground again, but it hit the side of the valley wall and fell on its side. I quickly took my notebook out of my vest and began to sketch it. "Why don't you just fly away?" I whispered as I drew in the tail fins. The Night Fury shot a ball of flame in front of it in frustration. I looked down at the dragon, then back at my drawing, and noticed it was a bit inaccurate.

I smudged out the left tail fin and looked back at the dragon.

It was missing its left tail fin, probably from my bolas. I bit my lip and as I gazed at the dragon, my pencil slipped from my hand. I gasped and frantically grabbed for it, but it evaded my grasp and fell through the air toward the ground below. My eyes widened and I sucked in my breath as the pencil hit a rock with a small clink. It wasn't that loud, but it was enough to make the dragon look up and see me.

We locked eyes and stared at each other. I was terrified that I was going to be attacked. However, the dragon cocked his head and regarded me with curiosity instead.

I slowly drew back my hand, which was still frozen in front of me from trying to grab my pencil. We had made eye contact for the fourth time since we met and we weren't trying to kill each other anymore.

I took that as a good sign.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. I'll be back with more sometime...**


	4. The Dragon Book

**It's me again with the fourth chapter for ya!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: The Dragon Book**

By the time I made it to the mess hall, I was soaking wet. A storm had unleashed itself on our island as I was walking back to the village, and I hadn't been able to escape it in time. As I pushed open the wooden doors, feeling soggy and miserable, I heard chatter and knew the rest of the class was already there.

"Now, where did Astrid go wrong in training today?" Gobber said in his booming voice as I picked up a plate with a lone drumstick on it and carried it toward the table.

"I misjudged my somersault dive," Astrid sighed. "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah," Ruffnut said in a bored voice. "We noticed."

"No, no, you did great," Snotlout assured her. "It was so…Astrid."

Astrid rolled her eyes.

"No, she's right," said Gobber, pacing behind her. "You've got to be on your guard at all time…" He rambled on, not noticing me. As I approached the table, Snotlout seemed to realize that he had an empty seat next to him, and he quickly put his hand on it to prevent me from sitting beside him. I walked around him and sat at an empty table beside Snotlout's, knowing full well that even if there was another open seat somewhere at the other table, no one would let me join them. I forlornly poked at the drumstick as Gobber rounded on me. "Ah, Hiccup. Where did Hiccup go wrong in training today?"

"Uh, he showed up?" said Ruffnut like the answer was obvious.

"He didn't get eaten," Tuffnut snickered, elbowing his sister in the shoulder.

I felt Astrid's eyes boring into my head. "He's never where he should be," she said in a very cold voice.

"_Thank you_, Astrid," Gobber said, cuffing the twins on the head. "You've got to live and breathe this stuff." He disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with a think book and dumped it on the table, sending quite a few plates tumbling to the floor. "The Dragon Manual. All we know about every dragon we know about." A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. "No attacks tonight," said Gobber. "Study up." He walked out of the mess hall, leaving us sitting at the tables behind him.

Tuffnut, who was trying to balance his fork on its end, suddenly sat straight up with a look of horror on his face. "Wait—you mean _read_?" he gasped.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut gasped.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout whined.

"Oh! Oh!" Fishlegs piped up excitedly. "I've read it like, seven times!" Snotlout stared at Fishlegs like he had sprouted two heads. Fishlegs continued, "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face! And, and there's this other dragon that buries itself for like a week—"

"Er, yeah, that sounds great," Tuffnut interrupted him. "And there was a chance that I was going to read that—"

"But…now…" said Ruffnut, sounding bored out of her mind.

"Well, you guys can stay here and read," said Snotlout, getting up off his seat and walking toward the door. "I'm gonna go kill stuff."

"Hey, wait for me!" the twins shouted together, trying to simultaneously follow Snotlout and push each other down at the same time. Fishlegs followed them, still talking about all the different dragons he had read about.

I slowly walked up to the Book of Dragons, which was lying on the table beside Astrid, who hadn't made any move to open it. "So I guess we'll have to share—"

"Read it," she said bluntly, cutting me off. She got up and walked away, shoving the book toward me.

I tried to act nonchalant. "Uh, okay then…wow, all for me! Well, I guess I'll see you—"

The door slammed.

"—tomorrow," I finished hopelessly. I sighed and went to get a candle. I had a feeling I would be reading for quite a while.

* * *

When I got back to the table, the mess hall had completely emptied itself of Vikings. The hall was so dark that without my candle I'd be lost. I sat down at the table, carefully set the candle holder down in front of me, and picked up the book. I scanned the cover and lifted the cover. "Dragon classifications," I read, "Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class..." I shrugged and then began to leaf through it.

"Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled the Thunder Drum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I flipped the page. "Timberjack," I read. "This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I flipped to another page. "The Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous—" Thunder suddenly boomed right outside the door, accompanied by a bright flash of lightning that shone through the cracks under the door like a solar eclipse. I jumped in fright, feeling slightly high-strung. There was something about reading a book about 'extremely dangerous' animals in the dark during a storm that made you a bit nervous. Turning to another page, I read, "Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." I flipped through the rest of the pages, recognizing a few dragons. "Gronkle...Zippleback...the Skrill...Bonenapper...Whispering Death…burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside out…extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight—"

I abruptly stopped when I saw the last page of the book. It was completely blank except for a few words at the bottom.

"Night Fury," I read in a hushed voice. "Speed, unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only hope: hide and pray that it does not find you…" I trailed off. I hadn't thought that Night Furies were _this_ hated in Berk. I stared at the blank spot that should have had a picture of the dragon and then quickly took out my notebook, opened it, and laid my diagram of the Night Fury on top of the book.

I had met a Night Fury. I had been pressed to the ground, roared at, and then left alone. I had let it see me and yet I had survived.

I didn't bother reading the rest of the book. I knew that every word written was false.

* * *

**A bit short, but there you have it! The fourth chapter! Stay tuned for the fifth!**


	5. Focus, Hiccup!

**Sorry about the really short chapter. I didn't want to combine it with the next scene, which is so awesome that it deserves a whole chapter all to itself. But anyway, here is the next chapter! **

**And thanks again to Backroads for editing!**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Focus, Hiccup!**

"So," I called out to Gobber as I finally spotted him standing above the ring on safe ground. "I noticed the book didn't have anything on Night Furies. Is there another book I could read, or a sequel, or maybe a Night Fury pamphlet—"

"Focus, Hiccup!" Gobber yelled as the Nadder came bursting into my line of sight. "You're not even trying!" I darted back and forth, trying to fake it out, but it didn't seem to work. I headed toward the path on my right and ran for my life.

"Today is about attack!" Gobber's voice echoed around the ring. I had no idea where exactly he was, because a big maze had been assembled in the ring out of wooden walls, and all of us were trying to memorize the twisting paths and escape a Deadly Nadder at the same time. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet," Gobber said. "You will have to be quicker and lighter."

I heard several loud thumps and then Fishlegs ran past me, his shield nailed with dozens of spikes. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" he yelled as he dashed past me.

"All dragons have a blind spot!" Gobber yelled, his voice echoing around the ring. "Find it, hide in it, and strike!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were running side by side through the maze when the Nadder suddenly appeared in front of them. The twins skidded to a halt and paused inches from the dragon's nose. The dragon's enormous nose and small eyes made it impossible to see the twins. They had successfully found the Nadder's blind spot.

"Eeerrgh…" Ruffnut moaned as the Nadder opened its mouth and breathed on her. "Don't you ever bathe?"

"If you don't like it, find your own blind spot!" Tuffnut smirked, shoving his sister. She immediately knocked her helmet against his and tried to shove him off balance with her forehead. "How about I give you one?"

As they bickered, the Nadder turned its head and spotted them. The twins both looked up in shock as the Nadder shot them with a blast of flame.

"Blind spot, yes," said Gobber, sounding approving. "Deaf spot—" he frowned—"not so much."

I dashed down the maze, trying to find a spot where I could hide, and I passed Gobber again. "So, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" I asked him, pausing for a second.

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale, now GO!" Gobber cried in exasperation as the Nadder appeared again, shooting a blast of fire at me that I just managed to escape from. "Okay, well, hypothetically," I pressed on. Suddenly I heard someone whisper my name, and I turned. Astrid and Snotlout crouching behind a wall, tensed like they were ready to spring. They both glared at me and waved at me to get down with them, so I did, praying to Thor that I wouldn't make a fool of myself. I heard snuffling sounds and knew the Nadder was coming. Astrid suddenly somersaulted across the Nadder's path and into the safety of the wall opposite. Snotlout somersaulted after her. I tried to do the same, but the weight of my shield brought me down right in front of the Nadder. I gasped as it snorted at me and stepped forward.

Astrid suddenly appeared behind me and raised her axe to attack the Nadder. Snotlout shoved her aside. "I'll take care of this, babe," he said smoothly as she protested. Snotlout flung the hammer at the Nadder. It smacked into the wall about six away from the target. The Nadder stared at the useless hammer beside it with amusement and then cocked its head and began laughing at Snotlout.

Snotlout rolled his eyes as Astrid glared at him. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid," he protested as they ran down the path. I could hear his excuses fading as they and the Nadder both disappeared. "Do you want me to move the sun? I could do that, you know, I could move the sun…"

I got up and quickly ran away from the Nadder. I had gone not two steps when there was a tremendous crashing noise from my left side. I ran out into the open and stopped moving. The Nadder had leaped on top of the maze walls and began to knock them over like dominos. Astrid was leaping on and off the toppling walls away from the Nadder. As she leaped off the last wall, which was right in front of me, she looked at where she was heading toward and immediately screamed. "HICCUUUUUUUUUP!"

I couldn't move out of her way in time. She collided with me and we both tumbled to the ground. I stared up at her fearfully as she shot me a look of poison, trying to untangle herself and her axe from me and my shield. "Can you—well maybe if you just—" I tried to say to her as she struggled. To make matters worse, I could hear the twins laughing at us. "Ooh," crooned Tuffnut. "Love on the battlefield."

"She could do better," Ruffnut snickered. I didn't really want to agree with her, but I did anyway.

Astrid finally entangled herself and stood up, shooting me a look filled with poison. The Nadder suddenly was flying at us, screeching something in dragon talk. Astrid's eyes widened and she stared at her axe, which was embedded in my shield. She grabbed her axe with both hands, stepped right on me, and yanked with all her strength, but the axe refused to budge. Astrid took her foot off me (thankfully) and swung the axe and the shield together at the Nadder.

The shield shattered against the Nadder's head with a sickening crunch. The Nadder's head snapped back, and it let out a whine of pain as it flapped away. Astrid was breathing hard as she stared after the dragon with a mixture of superiority and uncertainty. "Good job Astrid!" Gobber cheered, appearing in the arena to herd the dragon back into its cage.

I rolled onto my side, rubbing my head, and Astrid seemed to notice me again. She whirled on me angrily and pointed her axe at me, blade first. Part of the shield was still attached. "Is this some sort of joke to you?" she yelled. "Our parent's war is about to become ours. Figure out whose side you're on." She stalked away with the rest of the class as I lay on the ground with a headache.

But what about the Night Fury?

* * *

**Coming up next is everybody's favourite scene...(well maybe not everybody's, but you know what I mean) so stay tuned!**


	6. Forbidden Friendship

**I won't spoil the mood by rambling at the end of the chapter so I'll talk now. I hope I didn't use to much language in this chapter. Something so touching and beautiful like this is hard to put in words.**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Forbidden Friendship**

I returned to the cove after training, bringing with me a shield and a dead fish. I tossed the fish out into the open and tried to walk forward with my shield in front of me for protection, but it wedged itself into the side of the cliff and refused to budge. With a sigh, I picked up the fish and slowly walked forward. "Here, dragon," I called softly, not sure where it was or what to call it, for that matter. I glanced around the cove, not seeing anything big and midnight blue. I looked out over the cove, craning my neck to try and see over to the other side, when I heard something move behind me and immediately knew where the Night Fury was.

I turned just as the Night Fury stepped up from behind the rock he had been hiding behind and unfurled his wings. I sucked in my breath as it carefully stepped off the rock and backed up a few steps in front of me, not breaking eye contact. Its eyes darted from my face to the fish in my hand. I cautiously held out the fish to the Night Fury, but as I tried to get closer, it suddenly bared its teeth and growled.

Instinctively, I reached into my vest and laid a hand on my dagger. The growling increased as my fingers brushed the hilt. I paused. Then I very slowly picked up the dagger, held it out beside me and without breaking eye contact dropped it on the ground.

The Night Fury didn't drop his defensive stance, but he stopped growling.

I kicked the dagger into the lake.

The dragon stared at the ripples on the surface and then sat down on his haunches and stared at me with big curious puppy dog eyes.

I almost laughed. But then I remembered that it could still kill me and I stopped smiling. I extended my arm out and waved the fish in front of it. The dragon licked its lips and then leaned toward it, opening its mouth.

He had no teeth.

"Huh," I said softly. "Toothless. I could've sworn you had—"

The next second, razor sharp teeth suddenly shot out from the dragon's gums and he snapped the fish up whole, almost biting off my hand in the process. I jerked my hand back as the he swallowed the fish and then licked his lips and looked at me.

"—teeth?" I finished. So he could retract his teeth. Interesting.

Then he lowered his head and advanced on me, making a sort of rumbling noise in his throat. I stumbled backward, trying to get away. "Ah, no, no," I tried to dissuade the dragon from coming toward me. My legs suddenly hit something hard and I fell back against a large rock. The dragon stuck his head up to me and stared into my eyes. "I don't have any more!" I whispered, trying to edge away.

Apparently he didn't want more, because he dipped his head into my lap and regurgitated the fish's head onto my lap. Dragon spit and fish slime slid down my legs and onto the grass. "Ew…" I groaned.

The dragon drew back his head and sat back on his back legs, elbows resting on his knees, just like a human. He watched me expectantly. I held the slimy fish head in my hands, not sure what to do. When I looked at him questioningly, he looked at the fish and then back at me. I looked at the fish and then back at him with horror, realizing what he wanted me to do. I silently groaned, and then very gingerly took a bite of the fish. "Mmm," I said weakly through my mouthful.

The dragon just watched me.

I held out the rest of the fish toward him. "Mhmmhm," I tried to speak without opening my mouth and spreading the putrid taste.

The dragon made a big show of swallowing.

"Mmhmmhmm!" I drooped my shoulders and gave the dragon a pleading look, but he still stared at me, so I forced myself to swallow the fish. I stuck out my tongue and moaned as I felt the slimy thing hit the bottom of my stomach.

The dragon licked his lips again.

I gave him a weak smile.

The dragon seemed taken aback. And then, very slowly, he bared his the dragon gums at me in what was an unmistakable smile.

I was amazed.

Without breaking eye contact, I pushed myself up off the ground and held out my hand to try and make physical contact. As my hand came nearer, the dragon's smile wavered and then his teeth appeared. He gave me a warning growl and then turned and glided away from me across the lake.

He breathed fire on a large patch of earth to make it warm, and then curled up on it for a nap. He closed his eyes and tried to rest, but I think he was a bit annoyed by me moving up beside him and waving. He let out a loud breath of air that translated as a dragon sigh and wrapped his tail around his body so that the remaining fin covered his eyes.

It was just what I wanted to see. I inched forward and extended my hand to touch the tail, but just as I was about to touch him, his tail shot up and he stared at me. I quickly turned and walked away, trying to make it look like I had never wanted to touch his tail in the first place. I heard a snort behind me as he walked away to find a more private resting area.

I walked back to the rock that I had been pinned against only two minutes before and sat down on it, using a thin stick to sketch on the ground in front of me. How would Stoick react if he saw me now? Turning my back to a Night Fury! I had just gotten the head of a Night Fury drawn when I felt something approach from behind me and I knew the dragon was watching.

My hand paused for a moment and then continued drawing.

The dragon followed the movement of the stick with his eyes, occasionally letting out a curious whine. He watched me for about five seconds and then disappeared from behind me. I figured he'd just gotten bored. After all, drawing was one of those things that was only fun if you were doing it yourself.

A second later I heard the noise of a small tree being uprooted, and I had to turn around.

The dragon danced up in front of me a second later, holding the tree in his mouth and using it to create swooping swirling patterns on the ground in front of me.

He was drawing, just like I was.

He continued to twirl around on the dirt with the stick for a few minutes, and then he stopped, looked at me proudly, and jabbed a dot into the middle of his swirls. Then he stepped back to admire his drawing. I was right in the middle of the web of criss-crossed lines.

I looked around it in amazement, then got off the rock and stepped forward.

The dragon bared his teeth and growled.

I looked at him, then at the ground, where I discovered that I had stepped on one of the lines of his 'drawing'. I lifted my foot off the line, and the dragon's angry look vanished.

I stepped on and off the line again and again, making the dragon growl and perk up alternatively, before I stepped over the line completely and the dragon smiled.

I smiled back.

Then I began a sort of complicated dance across the drawing, not taking my eyes off where I put my feet, being careful not to tread on any line. I was actually having fun doing it until I backed out of the drawing and felt myself back up against the Night Fury.

I turned and gazed at the dragon's face. He looked back at me, almost fondly. I tentatively raised a hand, but he growled. I lowered the hand and he closed his mouth.

I took a deep breath.

I closed my eyes, turned my head away, and slowly extended my hand toward the dragon.

He wasn't growling at me, so I figured I was safe for now, but what was he going to do next? Was he doing to come to his senses and bite my hand off, or roar at me and fly away, or—

I felt something warm and scaly press against my hand.

Hardly daring to believe it, I slowly raised my head. The dragon was leaning against my hand, with his eyes closed, like he liked the feel of it. His eyes opened and he saw me looking at him with amazement. He slowly pulled his head away, wrinkled his nose a bit, and then he was gone.


	7. New Fin

**Here's chapter seven...hope it's satisfactory!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: New Fin**

"…and with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole."

The class listened appropriately as Gobber told his story. He was gathered in a circle with the rest of the class, who were sitting at an outdoor dinner table with a large fire in the centre. I was half-heartedly poking my fish on a stick in and out of the fire.

"And I saw the look on his face: I was delicious!" Gobber said, sounding proud of how he tasted. "He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month later before another one took my leg." The class, minus me, gasped as he stuck out his right leg, which disappeared at the shin and turned into a splintered wooden peg leg.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon, like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing its heart or something?" Fishlegs said eagerly. Everyone stared at him like he was insane.

"Ooh," fumed Snotlout, staring at his chicken with a murderous look. "I swear I am so ANGRY right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot! I'll chop the legs off every dragon I fight!" He pointed viciously at his nose. "With my _face_!"

"Oh, no," said Gobber, ripping a leg off the lobster in front of him and popping it into his mouth with a crunch. "It's the tails and the wings you want, not the legs. If it can't fly, it can't get away." My head shot up as I remembered Toothless down at the cove, missing his fin. He couldn't fly. He couldn't get away. "A downed dragon is a dead dragon," Gobber concluded as the class murmured in agreement.

If Toothless couldn't fly, he _was_ a dead dragon. I had to do something.

Gobber stood up and yawned loudly. "Well, I'm off to bed. You should too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys, working our way slowly but surely up to the Monstrous Nightmare! But who'll win the honor of killing it?" He left the circle, not noticing me slip off after him down the stairs.

"It's gonna be me," I heard Tuffnut say smugly as I walked down the stairs trying not to let them creak too much. "It's my destiny. See?" I heard Fishlegs gasp. "Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."

"Okay, I was stuck with you since birth," said Ruffnut, "and that's never been there before."

"Yes it was!" Tuffnut protested. "You've just never seen me from the left side until now."

I heard someone start to walk after me, and I quickly sprinted away from the class. If they knew what I was doing, Toothless wouldn't be the only one who was dead.

* * *

I didn't sleep last night. I headed straight to the blacksmith's shop and began my work. I formed long, thin pole to use as supports. I stretched strong pieces of material over the metal poles. By dawn, I had built a retractable dragon fin.

I brought two things with me to the cove this time. One was an enormous woven basket of fish. Another was the fin.

"Oh, Toothless," I cooed, walking toward the dragon with the fish on my back. I grunted as I heaved the basket of fish in front of the Night Fury. "I brought you some breakfast, I hope you're hungry..." He looked eager to eat his breakfast. I kicked the basket over and the fish spilled all over the ground.

Toothless licked his lips and stuck his nose in the pile of fish. "Okay, that's disgusting," I said as I made my way behind him. "We've got salmon, some Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel!" I said, naming the fish that Toothless was about to dig in to. At the word 'eel', however, Toothless suddenly growled and drew back. "Don't like eel?" I said, holding up the slimy black and yellow striped fish. Toothless let out a shriek of disgust. "Okay!" I said, tossing the eel away. "Yeah, I'm not a fan either…"

With the eel gone, Toothless began snapping down the fish. "Yes, that's it...don't mind me," I said softly as I walked behind him toward his injured tail. "I'll just be back here…minding my own business…" I set the artificial fin down beside the empty spot where the left fin should have been and moved the fin against the tail. At that moment, Toothless moved his tail to the side. I looked at him, but he didn't seem to notice what I was doing. I moved the fin toward his tail again, but again he moved it away. "Toothless, this won't work unless you stay still!" I said in frustration, sitting down on his tail and strapping the fin to his tail.

Behind me, Toothless stuck his head in the basket, nosing around to see if there were any missed fish. His thrashing made it quite difficult to attach the fin, but I eventually did it.

* * *

Toothless suddenly stopped moving. The basket dropped from his face to reveal a surprised expression. He wiggled his tail, felt the fin, and dropped his wings in shock. The human had made him a new fin? To fly with?

* * *

"There!" I said happily, staring at my handiwork. I reached down and unfurled the fin, not noticing Toothless's wings unfurling behind me, getting ready for takeoff. "That's not too bad. It works," I said with satisfaction.

At that moment, Toothless shoved off and shot into the air.

I was still on his tail.

Which means I went with him.

I screamed as the ground shot away from me and we went higher. I wrapped my legs around the dragon's tail for dear life. Through my fear, I managed to notice that the fin was flapping around uselessly in the air. It wasn't working. Toothless suddenly buckled and plunged toward the ground without the fin helping him. As the ground approached and both of us screamed, I shot out a hand and yanked the fin out to the side.

We swerved up inches from the ground and shot up into the sky in a controlled swoop.

"Ohmygo—oh, it's—it's working!" I gasped. I angled the fin to the side and Toothless flew to the left. He was flying! I was flying!

"Yes! I did it!" I cheered.

Toothless suddenly realized I was hanging onto his tail and flicked me off. I hit the lake below and plunged deep below the surface.

Without me to extend the fin, Toothless also plummeted into the lake.

I swam to the surface, pumped my fist in the air, and cheered. "YEAH!"

* * *

**This was one of my favourite scenes in the movie. Of course they're all my favourites, but this was one of my very favourites. You know what I mean! **

**Reviews, anyone?**


	8. Test Flight

**Thank you for all your awesome reviews! You rock!**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Test Flight**

"Today is about teamwork," Gobber said as he opened the door. Immediately a huge plume of greenish-grey gas flooded out and slowly began to fill the ring. "While every dragon has a limited amount of fuel, the Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other lights it! Your job is to know which is which. As with all dragons, you'll hear a hiss of gas before it's lit. Act quickly. A wet dragon head can't light its fire," Gobber advised.

I was standing back to back with Fishlegs. Ruffnut and Astrid were paired together. Tuffnut and Snotlout were standing side by side, looking eager to fight dragons. The gas slowly blocked out everyone except Fishlegs from my view. "Razor-sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims..." Fishlegs whimpered, holding his water bucket tightly.

"Will you be quiet?" I whisper-shouted.

"If that dragon shows either of its faces, I'm gonna—there!" I heard Snotlout say. There were twin splashes as he and Snotlout emptied their water buckets on something. "Hey! It's us, idiots!" came Ruffnut's outraged voice.

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were dragons!" Tuffnut snickered.

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure," Snotlout said, trying to be smooth in front of Astrid. It didn't work, as she punched him in the jaw and knocked him over. Tuffnut laughed at that but received a sock in the jaw from Astrid as well. As he hit the floor and stared ahead with a dazed expression, something suddenly seized him from behind and he disappeared into the fog with a yelp.

For a few long, suspenseful moments, we heard muffled yells. "Wait," Astrid whispered. Then she and Ruffnut screamed and fell to the ground as a long green tail whipped across the floor, tripping them both. Then Tuffnut charged out of the fog in panic, plowing into Ruffnut, who was just getting up. "Oh I am hurt!" he hollered as he stumbled off his sister and dashed away. "I am very much hurt!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," Fishlegs said in a hushed voice.

Suddenly a head appeared right beside him out of the gas and hissed at him. Fishlegs screamed.

The Zippleback's head snaked around him as he rotated on the spot, trying to find the head. The Zippleback stopped in front of him. Fishlegs quickly dumped the whole bucket on its head.

The Zippleback opened its mouth, revealing long, pointed fangs, and breathed a stream of green gas in front of it. "Wrong head," gulped Fishlegs. The Zippleback shot a forceful blast of gas right as him, and he fled, screaming, to another part of the ring. "Fishlegs!" Gobber cried as the terrified Viking boy ran away.

I jumped in fear as the second head suddenly came into view. It opened its mouth and shot a few sparks at me. They were harmless to me now, but if they ignited the gas around it…

I lifted the bucket and tried to toss it up onto the sparking dragon. The water rose a foot in the air and came down with a splash. It hadn't even come close to hitting the dragon. "Oh, come ON!" I said in frustration.

The first head shot a stream of gas at me and knocked me over. "Hiccup!" cried Gobber as I went down.

But then something strange happened.

As I stood up, the Zippleback began to slowly back away from me, staring at me strangely. "Uh, back!" I said, holding out my hands. "Back! Back into your cage." The dragon heads looked at heach other nervously, and then back at me. It kept backing up in...fear? Disgust? "Don't make me tell you again!" I backed the dragon into its cage and stood in the door. "Now you just sit here and think about what you have done." I glanced from side to side to make sure that no one could see me, and then reached inside my vest and pulled out the same eel that Toothless had rejected yesterday. The dragon heads stared at it in horror, trying to back through the wall in effort to get away from it. I tossed it on the floor and shut the door behind it. I lifted the bolt in place, dusted my hands off on my tunic, and turned around.

Every single person was staring at me in amazement. Fishlegs dropped the bucket with a clatter.

"Um, are we done here?" I said casually. "Because I've got things to…yep, gotta go, see you tomorrow!"

I ducked out of the ring, with the class staring after me. Everyone was looking almost admiring. Except Astrid. She was staring after me with a suspicious look on her face.

* * *

Over the next few days, I worked hard with Toothless. I built a saddle to make my riding more comfortable and (with only a little trouble) strapped it to his back. I rigged up a system that would open and move the fin when I moved my foot in the stirrups a certain way.

The more time I spent with Toothless, the more dragon secrets I learned. After crash-landing in a field of a sort of herb and watching Toothless roll around in it like a cat in catnip, I brought a handful to training with me to test it out on the Gronkle. Instead of maiming me, it approached me eagerly and let me rub it on his nose.

The next day, when the Nadder zoomed toward me, I dropped my weapon and stood still. When the Nadder paused to sniff me, I reached out and scratched it under the chin. The Nadder collapsed at my touch, either because of joy or because of some weird nerve that it had under its chin. Either way, if left Astrid looking pretty silly as she paused in mid-battle yell, her axe over her shoulder, ready to strike.

We were introduced to a new dragon, the Terrible Terror. It was definitely the smallest dragon I had ever seen, and only reached halfway up my shin. When Tuffnut saw it, he burst out laughing. "Ha!" He exclaimed, looking at the tiny dragon with amusement. "It's like the size of my—" The Terror suddenly leaped at him and knocked him over with surprising strength. "Whoa!" Tuffnut screamed as the Terror chewed on his nose. "Get it off!"

Using my shield as a mirror, I reflected a sunbeam onto the floor next to the Terror, who saw it, leapt off Tuffnut ("Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!"), and chased after it. I used the beam of light to lead it back into its cage.

"He's better than you ever were," Tuffnut scoffed to Astrid, who was looking at me with a stronger anger than she used to.

That afternoon, my cover was nearly blown. As I carried fish and other supplies down to Toothless at the cove, I had run into her practicing her axe work. We made eye contact for a split second, and then I quickly turned and managed, by some miracle, to get away.

I was really enjoying the attention that the kids were giving me, and even the adults were noticing. During training, I'd see groups of them standing around and watching me eagerly, and the elder of the village, a small old woman with white hair, had also been coming to see me. My only concern was that I'd come out top in training, and then I would have to kill a dragon in front of the entire village. I tried to do my best and not be the best at the same time.

One night, however, I was practicing some flying (although we were tethered to a rope attached to the ground) with Toothless, and after we managed to uproot the tether and crash spectacularily in the forest, we accidentally smashed the hook that connected me to the saddle closed. Nothing I had with me at the cove could get me free. So that was why I found myself sneaking Toothless into the blacksmith's shop at night. "Hi, Hiccup!" a random Viking greeted me as he walked past, holding a lantern. I waved, smiling, and then quickly pulled Toothless after me into the shop. As we headed into the shop, Toothless knocked over a metal bucket with a loud clank. I quickly took a wrench to the hook and began to slowly pry it open when I suddenly heard Astrid's voice. "Hiccup?"

Toothless and I stared at each other in terror. "Are you in there?" Astrid said.

I leaped out of the shop's window and hastily slammed the shutters closed behind me, so Astrid couldn't see the dragon I was hiding. "Hi! Astrid!" I said cheerily, trying to keep the nerves out of my voice. "Hey, Astrid! Hi Astrid hi Astrid hi Astrid—"

"Normally, I don't care how people are acting," Astrid said suspiciously. "But you're acting weird."

I saw a sheep behind Astrid catch sight of Toothless and freeze, grass sticking out of its mouth. Toothless instinctively crouched, giving me a sharp tug as the strap tightened. I gasped as I was yanked back a few inches. I looked back at Astrid. "Well, weirder," Astrid said, staring at me with her eyes narrowed.

And then I felt myself being tugged backwards into the window by the straps of the saddle, which were still attached to the hook on my belt. Toothless pulled me back until I was hanging from the window in front of Astrid, who was staring at me like I had lifted off the ground by magic. Which kind of happened. "Oh?" I said, trying to act nonchalant.

Toothless pulled me through the shutters and I disappeared right in front of Astrid's eyes.

I clung to Toothless's back as he bounded away from Astrid, toward the cove. I looked back and saw Astrid searching the blacksmith shop. Talk about your close calls.

* * *

Finally, I had perfected the steering issues for Toothless's fin, and we took to the skies for a test flight. I had clipped a sheet to the front of the harness that showed the foot positions for each direction, and as we rose into the air I consulted it. "Okay, position three…no, four. Position four…" Toothless nodded to show he understood and then squinted in the sunlight, smiling.

"Okay, it's go time," I said, glancing behind us. I flattened myself against his back. "It's go time."

At first everything went perfectly. We hit a few rock formations along the way, but it wasn't anything major. "Sorry, my fault," I apologized as Toothless crashed into another rocky ridge. "Sorry," I said again. He swatted me with his ear. "Ah!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." Toothless angled skywards. Berk looked tiny below us, and the clouds looked huge.

"Yeah!" I yelled happily. "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my—"

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept the sheet of paper away from me.

"—cheat sheet!" I cried, leaning back and reaching for it. "STOP!" Toothless halted in mid air. I flung out my hand and snatched the sheet out of the sky.

The straps holding me safely on Toothless' back slowly undid themselves.

Before I knew it, we were both plummeting. I flailed around in the air, trying desperately to grab hold of the harness and keep hold of the sheet at the same time. "Oh Gods! Oh, Gods! Oh no! Oh no, no, no, this is not good, ah, Toothless, come here, you've gotta kinda try to angle yourself—gah!" I shouted as his flailing tail smacked me in the face. I put the sheet in my mouth so both my hands were free, and eventually I managed to grab the harness by sheer luck. I hurriedly strapped myself in again and tried to read the sheet, but it was whipping around in the wind, and I couldn't see a thing. Toothless spread his wings to slow our descent, but we couldn't steer without the sheet. We were headed toward an intricate maze of rock formations now; we had gotten so low. I took one last look at the sheet, then took a deep breath, tossed it away, and braced myself.

We navigated through the maze by instinct, hitting every turn perfectly. The sheet that I had relied on so much had now become as important as a winter coat in a forest fire. The rocks suddenly disappeared and we flew out into open air, above the water. The sea spray gently washed over us as we glided forward. We had made it.

I threw my hands in the air and screamed. "YEEEESSSSSSS!"

Toothless grinned and shot a ball of fire to celebrate.

Right in front of us.

I lowered my hands in exasperation as the wind blew the fire right back into my face. "Oh come on…"

* * *

**I hate writing these scenes that I can't describe accurately in words. Oh well. Did I do a good job?**


	9. Not So Fireproof

**Hello, everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update; between writing other stories and studying for my math final and celebrating the beginning of Summer vacation, I got a bit distracted. But here it is now, so hope you like! :3**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Not so Fireproof**

Toothless regurgitated up a hunk of fish and looked at me questioningly. "Ah, no thanks," I said, holding up a fish on a stick. "I'm good."

We had landed on a small island for a break. Toothless had caught us some fish while I made a fire. It gave me some time to reflect on all the things I had done with this dragon. I wondered how long I would be able to keep him a secret.

The smell of the cooking fish was pretty good. It must have wafted pretty far on the breeze, because it attracted a small group of Terrible Terrors. They landed and began scuttling around us, hoping to get a fish or two. Toothless growled warningly and protectively drew his arms around the file of raw fish.

One of the Terrors stepped up and grabbed the fish that Toothless had regurgitated for me. It dragged it away and then began squabbling over it with another Terror. It ended the argument by shooting a minute ball of fire at its annoyance.

A fish in Toothless's pile suddenly stood up and began to walk away. Toothless grabbed at it with his teeth and pulled it off the back of another Terror who had been trying to steal it. Toothless swallowed the fish and glared at the Terror.

The Terror stared at Toothless for a while, then began pawing the ground and hissing, taking a step forward. It opened its mouth and prepared to shoot fire at Toothless.

Toothless opened his mouth and shot a short blast of flames down the Terror's throat.

The Terror's belly expanded with the fire and then it collapsed against the ground, smoke puffing out of its mouth. It got up and began to dizzily walk away. "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" I laughed. I picked up a tiny fish and tossed it to the Terror. "Here you go."

The Terror stared at the fish in surprise and then snapped it down before it could be taken away. It looked at me with caution, and then slowly approached me, nudged my arm with its snout, and curled up at my side.

I stroked the tiny dragon with amazement as it slept. I leaned against Toothless and stared up into the night sky. "Everything we know about you guys is wrong," I whispered.

* * *

One boat returned from the voyage. The mast was snapped in two, there was an enormous hole in the side of the boat, and the sail had a big burnt hole through the painting of the dragon on it. Stoick stepped off the boat and trudged down the dock, feeling defeated. Once again, he had lost most of his men and hadn't found the nest. He hadn't even got close this time. He needed a pick-me-up.

"I thought you'd found the nest, at least," Gobber said, picking up a crate and tucking it under his arm. "Not even close," grunted Stoick. "I hope you had more success then I did."

"Well, if by success you mean that your parenting troubles are over, then yes," Gobber said casually.

Stoick halted. "What?"

Four Vikings ran up to Stoick with huge smiles on their faces. "Congratulations, Stoick!" one of the Vikings shouted happily. "Everyone is so relieved!"

"Out with the old and in with the new, eh?" another Viking said happily.

"No one will miss that old nuisance! C'mon! The whole village is throwin' a party to celebrate!" They ran off, patting Stoick on the back.

Stoick stared after them in shock, then turned to Gobber. "He's gone?"

"Well, most afternoons," Gobber said casually, and then two men began to walk toward the village. "But who can blame him? The life of a celebrity is pretty rough. He can barely walk through the village without being mobbed by his fans."

Stoick stopped walking. "Hiccup?" he said in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Who would've thought!" said Gobber enthusiastically. "He has this way with the beasts."

Stoick began to smile as Gobber elaborated on the subject. Hiccup was finally getting somewhere? He had to find him and see for himself.

* * *

It was nighttime when I got back. I couldn't sleep, so I went up to the blacksmith's shop and sat down at my desk and tried to draw something. But I ended up flicking a pencil around the desk for half an hour out of boredom.

I was just feeling like I might actually fall asleep when the door slammed open and Stoick entered. I jumped up and hastily tried to hide all my drawings of Toothless, which were scattered all over the table. He was back already? "Oh! —uh…Dad! You're back! Uh, Gobber's not here, so..."

"I know. I came looking for you," said Stoick.

My heart started hammering in my chest. "You did?" I said, trying to sound innocently curious. I casually closed my sketchbook.

"You've been keeping secrets," said Stoick. He glared at me with anger.

"I have?" I stuttered, praying to the gods that Toothless hadn't been discovered.

"Just how long did you think you could keep this from me?" Stoick said in a low, threatening voice.

I gulped. "I don't know…what you're talking about..."

"Now let's talk," said Stoick. "About that dragon."

My heart plummeted into my boots. "Oh…Dad I'm so sorry," I whispered, hanging my head. "I was going to tell you, I really was, I—"

I was cut off by my dad suddenly bursting out into wild laughter. I immediately began to laugh too—although it was very high-pitched; I was still scared—and pretended I knew what was going on. "You're not…mad?" I asked tentatively.

Stoick stopped laughing. "Mad?" He said loudly. "I've been praying for this!"

"…you…were…?" Obviously we're not talking about the same thing.

"Of course!" Stoick laughed happily. "And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time! And mount your first Gronkle head on a spear…" He sighed. "What a feeling!" He clapped me on the back so hard I was knocked into a basket that happened to be beside me.

"Y-eah…" I said uncertainly. So he thought I was a dragon killing legend now. If he ever finds out the truth he's going to get a very rude awakening.

"All these years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen! Odin, it was rough! I almost gave up on you! And all this time, you were holding out on me! Thor almighty!"

He pulled up a chair. "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about!" He grinned at me expectantly. I stared back with a mixture of sadness and guilt. We sat like that for a few seconds before Stoick's face suddenly turned solemn. "Oh, I—ahem—brought you something," he said quietly. He reached behind him into his sack and pulled out a small Viking helmet, complete with horns and inset ruby. He handed it to me. "To keep you safe in the ring." I took the hat and stared at it, feeling strangely proud, like I had finally earned the right to wear a true Viking helmet. It looked like it would fit me perfectly. I ran my hand over the top of the hat. "Wow..." I murmured. "Thanks!"

"Oh, your mother would have wanted you to have it," said Stoick, looking fondly at the hat. "It's half of her breastplate."

My hand froze on the top of the hat as a very weird image flashed through my head. Without moving my head, I rolled my eyes upwards to look at Stoick.

"Part of a matching set," said Stoick, tapping his own hat. "Keeps her close. Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal."

I carefully set the hat on the table, my mind whirling. I was terrified I was going to let something slip any second. I stretched hugely and let out a big fake yawn. "Well, I should be getting to bed—"

"Right," said Stoick quickly, getting up. "Uh…good talk, good chat…uh…" we stood there awkwardly. "See you in the ring tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you." I glanced at the helmet. "Thanks for stopping by, and for the…breast hat," I said, not sure what to call it.

"The hat," corrected Stoick, walking out the door and closing it behind him.

I uncrossed my arms and leaned back against the table. My dad was coming to my training class tomorrow. He was going to see me 'fight' the dragon. And tomorrow was the day the elders chose the top recruit for training. Everybody knew that the only ones with a chance were Astrid and myself. I prayed to the gods it wouldn't be me. I didn't want to kill a dragon.

It's amazing how quickly my mind could change.

* * *

**Thanks to this movie, I will now and forever refer to a Viking helmet as a breast hat.**


	10. Astrid Goes for a Spin

**I wasn't sure where to put the next few scenes, because they could easily be blended into one another and be fine, but that would mean I'd need a good name to sum up three scenes...so this is how it's going to be. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Astrid Goes for a Spin**

Doomsday.

We were up against the Gronkle. The whole village had turned up to watch. The elder was there too, watching me closely. I hoped to high Valhalla that she would chose Astrid instead.

I ducked behind a short wooden wall, one of many others that were scattered around the ring. Astrid ducked down after me without even seeing me. She finally noticed me beside her and shot me a look of poison. "Stay out of my way," she said menacingly. "I'm winning this thing." She rolled over to hide behind another wall. "Oh yes, please, by all means…" I called weakly after her. I might as well get it over with now, then. I stood up to let the Gronkle see me and caught sight of Stoick watching eagerly. He gave me a thumbs up. I weakly smiled back, and for one second I felt an urge to defeat the Gronkle and make him proud. Make him feel proud of me, his son.

The feeling vanished when I thought of Toothless.

Astrid, meanwhile, was still rolling from wall to wall. As she neared the Gronkle, she became more determined to win. "This time," she whispered angrily to herself. "This time for sure!"

She leapt up from the wall and charged toward the Gronkle, waving her axe around in the air and letting out a war cry.

It died on her lips as she saw the Gronkle.

I looked at her in fear/helplessness as she stared at me in horror. When the Gronkle had seen me, it had immediately collapsed in front of me, hoping to get scratched behind the ears. I was getting a very bad feeling that I had won.

"NO!" Astrid screamed, and began whirling her axe around at the air, yelling out curses and insults to me. Gobber arrived on the scene just then. "So, later," I said, trying to casually slip away. Gobber snagged the back of my vest and pulled me back. "Whup, not so fast."

I struggled against his grasp. "Uh…I'm kind of late for—"

"Late!" Astrid said, shoving the blade of her axe up to my face. "Late—for what—exactly?"

"Quiet down!" Stoick boomed over the noise of the crowd. "The elder has chosen!" Astrid contained herself and walked over to Gobber. Both of us looked up at the elder expectantly. Both of used hoped to pick Astrid. Gobber lifted his artificial hand (it was an axe today) and held it above Astrid's head.

The elder sadly shook her head.

I saw Gobber's eyes widen in shock as the crowd becan 'ooh'ing. He lowered his hand and pointed to me. I squeezed my eyes shut.

And then I heard cheering erupt all around me, and Gobber's elated voice yelling, "Hiccup, you've done it! You get to kill the dragon!" I slowly opened my eyes and dared a glance at Astrid.

If looks could kill, I would be dead.

The rest of the training class rushed into the ring, staring at me admiringly and cheering. Fishlegs hoisted me up onto his shoulders. The twins and Snotlout waved their arms at me, hoping for high-fives. "Great," I said, waving my fist in the air sadly. "Wonderful. I'm so—"

* * *

"—leaving."

I glanced around the cove, looking for Toothless. "We're leaving. It looks like you and I are taking a little vacation." I couldn't see any dragon in sight. He must be hiding behind a rock or something. "Forever," I sighed.

I sat down in the shade of a giant rock and opened the giant pack I had brought. I looked at the few contents and sighed sadly. Why did I have to win? Why me? Why? Why? The saddest thing was the look on Stoick's face when the elder had chosen me. It was pure delight. Pure joy. I hated to disappoint him, but it was official now. I didn't want to be like him anymore.

The silence of the cove was suddenly broken by a long scraping noise of metal against rock. I looked up and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Astrid seated on the rock, running a stone along the blade of her axe.

I'm embarrassed to say, I screamed.

I leapt back and quickly gathered myself. "What the—what are you doing here?"

Astrid tossed the stone over her shoulder and planted the hilt of the axe firmly on the rock beside her. "I wanna know what's going on," she said simply. She jumped off the rock and advanced on me, holding her axe out beside her. "Nobody just _gets_ as good as you. Especially you. Start talking."

I stepped back and tried to think of something quickly. "I, uh—"

"Are you training with someone?" Astrid asked. Thor, she was close. "It better not involve this!" She grabbed the front of my harness and almost lifted me off the ground. I tried not to smile at her hand actually coming into close contact with me. "Uh…I know this looks…really bad, but I…uh—" And then I heard Toothless snort somewhere behind us.

Astrid heard him too.

Astrid let go of me and began to walk in the direction of the noise. I leapt in front of her and blurted out the first thing that came into my mind.

"Alright, I'm through with the lies. I've been making…outfits! So there, you know—" I grabbed her hand and put it on the front of my harness to encourage her to grab me and drag me back to the village "—drag me back, take me home, it's time everybody knew...here we go—" Astrid grabbed my hand and twisted it backwards. "—and why would you do that?" I cried out in pain, falling over. Astrid kicked my feet out from under me as I tried to get up, and I fell heavily to the ground. "That's for the lies," said Astrid coldly. She dropped her axe on my stomach, hilt first. I cried out in pain again. "And _that_ is for everything else," Astrid growled.

And then someone else growled.

I leapt up just as Toothless came into view, growling at Astrid. Was he trying to protect me?

Then he charged at us.

Astrid gasped as he neared us. "Get down!" she cried, grabbing me and forcing me down. She picked up her axe and prepared to swing it at Toothless.

Just before the axe made contact or Toothless grabbed her and somebody got killed, I dove at Astrid and knocked her to the ground. "NO!"

I grabbed her axe and wrenched it out of her grasp. Her axe skidded across the ground and stopped about seven feet away.

I got up and stepped up between her and Toothless. "It's okay," I soothed as Toothless hunched down and growled at Astrid. "She's a friend."

I turned to Astrid and felt Toothless nudge me in the back, still growling. "You just scared him," I said, trying to hold Toothless back as Astrid scrambled to her feet. _He was just protecting me,_ I said in my head.

"_I _scared _him_?" Astrid screeched. She took a deep, ragged breath. "_Who is him_?"

I stepped back and Toothless dropped his defensive stance but kept the anger on his face. "Astrid, Toothless," I said. "Toothless, Astrid." Toothless cared his teeth and hissed.

Astrid shook her head in disbelief. Then she turned and bolted for the forest.

"Dut-duh-dah, we're dead!" I announced, raising my arms and then letting them drop.

Toothless shook himself and then turned and walked away in a huff. Then I got an idea. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" I said, putting my hands on my hips.

Seconds later—and I mean _seconds_—we were flying above the trees, Astrid in Toothless's grasp. "Oh great Odin's ghost!" she screamed when we snatched her off the ground on her way back to the village. "This is it!"

She screamed non-stop until we landed at the very top of a tall tree. Toothless dropped her on one of the higher branches and then comfortably settled himself at the very top.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled at me, her face red, strands of hair escaping from her headband. She shifted her grip on the tree branch and tried to climb up onto the branch. It was proving difficult, as she was only holding on with her hands with her legs dangling below in the air. "Get me down from here!"

"You need to give me a chance to explain," I pleaded, gazing down at her struggling.

She looked at me with poison. "I am not listening to _anything_ you say!"

"Then I won't speak," I said softly. I held out a hand to her. "Just let me show you. Please, Astrid."

Astrid stared at me for a long time, then grunted and finally heaved herself up. She blew hair out of her face and climbed up to where we sat. She took one look at my hand and knocked it away. Toothless growled warningly. Fear filled Astrid's eyes and she gingerly mounted Toothless, settling herself behind me. I looked over my shoulder at her and she gave me an embarrassed look. "Now get me down," she pleaded.

"Right," I said. "Toothless? Down. Gently this time."

Toothless extended his wings to the sides.

"See?" I said cheerfully. "Nothing to worry about."

And Toothless took off into the sky.

I didn't even know he could go this fast and this rough. Astrid was screaming behind me, and I could tell that she was bumping around quite a bit. I was afraid she was going to fall off if Toothless didn't slow down. "Toothless, what are you doing?" I cried. "Bad dragon!" Toothless slowly righted himself and hovered in the air. Astrid scrambled upright and wrapped her arms around me, clinging on for dear life. I giggled nervously as her arms encircled my middle. "Uh, he's not usually like this," I said. I felt Toothless roll over underneath me. "Oh no…"

And we were off on the wildest ride of our lives.

Toothless pulled out all the fanciest and fastest moves that he knew. He rolled, spun, twirled, dove under the waves of the ocean when we got low enough, and _never_ slowed down.

"Toothless, what are you doing?" I screamed. "We need her to like us!" Toothless completely ignored me and began to spin rapidly through the air. "And now the spinning," I said helplessly. Astrid's arms tightened around my body as Toothless suddenly let himself drop straight through the air. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," I grumbled.

Astrid pressed her head against my back. "Okay," she gasped. "I'm sorry." I saw Toothless's head perk up. "I'm sorry," Astrid repeated, her voice shaking. "Just please get me off this thing." I was beginning to feel a slight dampness on my back, and I knew she was crying.

Just as we were about to slam into the ocean below, Toothless spread his enormous, powerful wings and halted us from hitting the water.

He gently brought us higher into the sky, gliding on the air currents, hardly moving his wings at all. Slowly, Astrid raised her head and blinked. "Oh…" I heard her gasp. I looked around us. We were in a forest of white, puffy clouds. I could see faint patches of night above us.

Toothless slowly angled downward, soaring through the clouds. Astrid raised a hand and ran it through the clouds, trying to grab at a puff of moisture. Then she get go of me, leaned back, and put both arms in the air like she was flying.

Toothless angled up again and took us higher until we were above the clouds. The endless night sky stretched out above us, speckled with millions of stars. The view was amazing. I had never flown at night before. Toothless took us for a small loop and then soared even higher, so we could see the Northern lights, green and blue and purple and amazing. I gazed up in wonder at all the colours and knew Astrid was doing the same. I felt her hands gently brush against my sides and got a bit distracted as I wondered if that was an accident or not.

Toothless brought us lower and flew above Berk. The village looked so small and bright below us, and I saw Astrid's face as she took in the sights. She was completely in awe, I know. I was too. The sights were amazing. Riding on Toothless was amazing.

I felt Astrid wrap her arms around me again and rest her chin on my shoulder. A slight electric shock went through me, and I nervously grinned. _Astrid Hofferson was hugging me!_

After a while, Astrid laughed. "Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool," she said, smiling. "It's…amazing." She glanced at Toothless. "He's amazing." She slowly reached down and patted Toothless's neck.

He didn't mind.

* * *

**I'd give away everything I own to take a ride with Toothless...sigh...**


	11. Dragon's Den

**Sorry for the delay. Here's the eleventh chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Dragon's Den**

We flew in silence for a couple of seconds. "So what happens now?" asked Astrid. I didn't say anything. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow!" Astrid said. "You know you're going to have to kill a—" She leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Kill a dragon."

Toothless suddenly whined. We both looked at him. He turned his head from side to side frantically and then abruptly dove into a large group of clouds. "Toothless, what's happening?" I asked. Toothless didn't answer. He just shook his head some more and kept flying through the mist. "Toothless, you've gotta get us out of here," I pleaded. Toothless whined and shook his head.

Suddenly, a Monstrous Nightmare plunged out of the clouds and swerved in front of Toothless. He almost collided with a Nadder, who dropped out of the sky on Toothless's other side. They squawked at each other in annoyance. Both were carrying fish and sheep in their claws. Gradually more dragons began to appear out of the mist. Within seconds we could see that we were surrounded by thousands of dragons of various species, some calling out to one another, some bickering with each other. All of them had some sort of meat in their claws. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill," I said in a hushed voice, ducking as a Zippleback turned both its heads in my direction.

"Uh…what does that make us?" Astrid asked nervously, hugging me tighter and shrinking against my back.

Ahead of us, all the dragons suddenly dove beneath the clouds. Toothless followed suite. Astrid and I tried not to scream as Toothless carried us along with the dragons at high velocity through endless cloud forests.

Suddenly we burst through the clouds and were flying through clearer air. Directly in front of us was an enormous volcano. Small streams of lava trickled out the mouth and drizzled down the sides. Large chunks of ice were lodged into the rock. The dragons were headed towards a hole in the side of the volcano. Astrid let out a sharp cry of fear as Toothless dove into the hole.

We swerved through a dark, rocky tunnel, lit by the occasional drop of lava leaking into the tunnel. Stalactites and stalagmites stuck out from the ceiling and the floor, creating lots of obstacles for us to get around. Toothless almost crashed into another dragon twice. As we continued on through the tunnel, we began to notice a red glow coming from the end of the tunnel, which got brighter and brighter as we neared the end.

And then the tunnel ended, and we were flying across a huge cavern. Above and around us there were rocky brown cliffs with tiny caves for dragon nests. Below us there was a mass of red, evil looking clouds. The heat was almost unbearable. A sinister rumbling sound reverberated around the cave.

Toothless had brought us to the dragon's nest. "Whoa…" I whispered, gazing around the cavern. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this." Astrid's eyes were getting wider and wider by the second.

As Toothless soared across the pit, all the dragons released their burdens and dropped the food into the pit. The small morsels disappeared into the clouds. The rumbling noise dimmed with every speck of food that disappeared. Toothless landed on one of the ledges and ducked behind a stalagmite. We all peeked around to stare at the disappearing food. "Well, it's nice to know that all our hard work is being dumped down a hole," I said sarcastically.

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid whispered, confused. The dragons, after dropping their loads, quickly landed and scurried into their caves. It was like they were scared of something. Something about this felt wrong. They wouldn't dump the food in the pit for no reason. Suddenly I had a feeling that the dragons weren't the bad guys anymore.

We watched as a small Gronkle buzzed tiredly over the pit. It glanced around, then opened its mouth and spit a tiny fish into the pit. It was no longer than my hand. The Gronkle smacked its lips and started to fly away. The rumbling sound suddenly turned from a faint rumble to quite a loud, angry one. The Gronkle froze in mid air.

And then the biggest, ugliest, evilest thing I had ever seen erupted from the depths of the clouds and closed its jaws around the poor Gronkle.

Toothless whimpered and shrunk back against the rock. The nesting dragons all whimpered and retreated into their caves. The Gronkles looked the most scared. "What…is…that?" Astrid whispered, her voice shaking.

It had to be a dragon, but it was the biggest dragon I had ever seen. The only part of it we could see was its head, and the head alone was almost ten times the size of Toothless. It had eight eyes like a spider, and they were all blood red. Its skin was a mouldy bluish-green, and it was lined with rows of small red horns. Its teeth were as long as one of Stoick's longships and as sharp as the sharpest sword in our inventory. The head sank back into the clouds, its throat vibrating and emitting a low rumble, the same one that had filled the cave seconds before. I patted Toothless's neck. "Alright buddy, we've gotta get out of here," I said with major panic. Below us, the evil dragon's eyes swivelled over to our hiding place. It knew we were here. "Now!" I cried.

Toothless took off into the air just as the monster roared and lunged at us, snapping its jaws against rock, just barely missing us. All the dragons took off after us and swarmed up toward the mouth of the volcano as the monster lunged up and snapped its jaws again, dragging down a struggling green dragon. As Toothless shot out of the volcano and away from the cave, I knew we were safe at the moment. But the monster's roar, filled with rage and evil, still echoed in my ears.

* * *

"No, no, it totally makes sense," Astrid exclaimed as Toothless neared the cove. "It's like a giant beehive. The dragons are the bees, and that was their queen. It controls them." She jumped off Toothless and took off toward the village. "Let's go find your dad!"

I shot in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her. "NO!" I cried. "No, , not just yet...they'll kill Toothless…" I let go of her and turned away. "We've got to think this through very carefully."

I walked over to Toothless as Astrid stopped behind me. "Hiccup, we just discovered the _dragon's nest!_" she said incredulously, "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here! And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your _pet dragon_? _Are you serious_?"

I knew that if I sided with the dragons I was facing possible exile and probably death. I didn't care. The dragons weren't the ones to blame. If they didn't steal our food, they would be killed themselves by that monster back there. I was with Toothless on this one. I was with the dragons. I turned and stared into Astrid's eyes. "Yes," I said softly, forcing as much passion into my voice as possible.

Astrid's anger dropped off her face, and an empathetic look took its place. "Okay," she said softly. "But Hiccup, what do we do?"

"Give me until tomorrow," I said tiredly, staring forlornly at the ground. "I'll think of something."

"Okay," whispered Astrid.

We stood together, the only noise coming from Toothless, who was drinking from the lake. Then Astrid pulled back her arm and punched me in the shoulder. I gasped in surprise and pain as she said angrily, "That was for kidnapping me."

I wordlessly shook my head in protest and then turned to Toothless for support. He just rolled his eyes at me and gestured for me to turn back to Astrid.

I rubbed my arm and was about to say something, but before I could, Astrid darted forward and kissed me on the cheek. It was so fast I almost didn't believe it, but I could feel the ghost of her lips against my skin and I knew it had to be real. "And…" Astrid said, sounding embarrassed, "that was for…everything else." She turned away and took a few casual steps before breaking into a run and disappearing into the forest.

I was left staring after her dreamily, replaying the moment over and over again in my head.

Toothless walked up beside me and watched Astrid leave. It was a while before I finally noticed him standing there.

_He was smirking!_

I blushed. "What are you looking at?"

* * *

**When I was watching the movie, and the dragon head shot out and ate the Gronkle, I actually got scared. A few days later, I had a nightmare that I was being hunted by it. Weird, right?**

**By the way, I've decided that if you want the next chapter, I need to get ten reviews. As soon as I get ten, I'll post the next chapter. **

**So, please review or else the story is unfinished forever...**


	12. The Kill Ring

**Whatever.**

**Yesterday I saw How to Train Your Dragon again. The Canucks Autism Network was having this movie in the park thing, and me and my family decided to go. (Yes, there is someone in our family who is autistic) It was kinda funny, because halfway through the movie, my Mom, who claimed to hate the movie, sat down next to me to watch it, and when I turned to her and said, "Well?" she just gave me this massive smile and said, "I LOVE it!"**

**And since I'm in a massive HTTYD mood now, I figure I might as well post another chapter. Patience is not one of my virtues.**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: The Kill Ring**

"Well I can finally show my face in public again!" Stoick said happily, and the crowd of Vikings in front of him cheered enthusiastically. He held up his hands for silence. "If someone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being…well, Hiccup…to placing first in Dragon Training…well, I would have tied him to a mast and shipped him out to sea for fear he'd gone mad!" The crowd cheered again.

"And you know it! But here we are, and no one's more surprised, or more proud, than I am," Stoick said solemnly, his voice echoing around the rocks. "Today, my boy becomes a Viking. Today, he becomes one of us!"

The crowd exploded at his last words with cheering.

I was standing at the entrance to the arena with my hat under my arm and butterflies in my stomach. I felt so guilty I could've melted, but I needed to try to get through to everyone. If Stoick actually listened to me, then we could get rid of this stupid dragon war. If he didn't…

"Be careful with that dragon," came Astrid's voice from behind me.

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," I sighed, watching Stoick walk over to the throne in front of the ring.

A Monstrous Nightmare...only the best Vikings go after those.

Only the best.

"What are you going to do?" Astrid wanted to know, asking the same question she had asked me yesterday.

"Put an end to all this," I replied shakily. "I have to try."

"Astrid," I said, turning to face her. "If something...goes wrong, make sure they don't find Toothless."

"I will," she said softly. "Just…promise me it won't go wrong."

I opened my mouth to reply, but Gobber appeared just then. "C'mon, Hiccup," he said happily, opening the gate and leading me inside the arena, "Knock 'im dead!"

I took a breath and put my helmet on as the crowd gathered around the ring and began to chant my name. "Hic—cup! Hic—cup! Hic—cup!" I walked over to the selection of weapons the Vikings had laid out for me and chose a shield and the smallest dagger they had.

"Hmm," Stoick said from his position on a large stone chair with the best view of the ring, "I would've gone with the hammer," he said to Gobber, who shrugged.

I adjusted my helmet, faced the door, and exhaled. "I'm ready," I said firmly, trying not to let my voice wobble too much.

A hush fell over the arena as Vikings slowly pulled the bars across the largest door in the arena away. The door stayed closed for about one second before they burst open in a wave of fire and the Nightmare appeared, coated in flames, snapping its jaws. It was covered in battle scars and it looked furious. It scuttled around the edge of the ring, shot a burst of flame at the Vikings watching, and then climbed the metal bars that made up the roof of the arena and hung there, hissing at me, daring me to make a move. I didn't make a move.

Eventually, the Nightmare dropped off of the ceiling and slowly advanced toward me, making a low growling sound in its throat. I slowly backed away from it as the Vikings around me watched in excitement, expecting to see me lunge at it at any given second and behead it.

However, what they expected to see and what they actually saw were two completely different things.

As I backed away, I held my shield and my dagger out to my sides. First I dropped the dagger. Then I dropped the shield. Then I stopped moving altogether. The Nightmare paused, looking slightly less angry and a whole lot confused.

"What's he doing?" Stoick asked Gobber, frowning down at me.

I held out my hands to the Nightmare. "Hey, it's okay," I soothed, "it's okay…" I placed my hands on my helmet and pulled it off. With one quick look at Stoick to make sure me was watching, I threw the helmet away. "I'm not one of them."

The entire crowd gasped as I reached out and gently touched the dragon's snout. Slowly, the dragon was beginning to relax. I saw Stoick stand up. "Stop the fight," he said in a dangerous voice.

"No, wait!" I cried. And then just so the dragon didn't get spooked, I lowered my voice, "I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are." I stroked the dragon's nose, and it purred. "We don't have to fight them."

The Vikings stared at me in shock, then quickly turned to Stoick to see how he was taking the news. I held my breath.

Stoick grabbed a hammer and swung it through the air. "I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" he roared, slamming the hammer onto the metal bars of the roof so hard that it left a dent.

At the noise, the Nightmare's pupils suddenly narrowed into thin, fearful slits. I had just enough time to pull my hand away before it closed its mouth over my hand. It reared up and shot a long blast of fire at me. I whirled around and sprinted away from the dragon, letting out a loud, fearful scream.

* * *

Deep in the forest, a certain Night Fury heard the scream and woke with a start.

* * *

"Hiccup!" gasped Astrid. She grabbed an axe, wedged it under the door to the arena, and squeezed through the small space it gave her. She dashed in, grabbed a hammer, and flung it at the Nightmare. It slammed into the dragon's head as it was about to bite me. It fell to the ground, shook its head, and immediately tore after Astrid. Astrid yelped and scurried away.

* * *

Toothless desperately scrambled up the high, rocky Cliffside of the cove. He dug his claws into the rock and heaved himself up into the high peak of the forest.

* * *

Stoick pushed through the crowd. "Out of the way!" he roared. He ran up to the gate and opened it up. "This way!" he yelled at Astrid and I. We scrambled to our feet and made a mad dash for Stoick. At that moment, the dragon shot another blast of fire at us. Astrid leaped through the gates at the last possible moment and was shielded from the fire by Stoick. I didn't make it in time and tumbled to the floor as the fire flew over me. I quickly got up again and ran away from the dragon, away from Stoick, toward the very centre of the arena.

* * *

Toothless ran faster than he ever ran in his life through the forest. After leaping over a few rocks, he spread his wings and glided swiftly through the trees, a growl beginning in his throat as he neared the village arena.

* * *

I panted with fear and exertion as I neared the opposite wall. The Monstrous Nightmare landed right beside me and roared. I gasped and tried to scramble away, but it swooped down on me and the next second I was flat on my back as its claws closed over my chest like a cage, pinning me to the ground. It lowered its head and growled at me. I felt the same hopelessness that I had when Toothless had pinned me down the first time we had met, but this time there wasn't only fear, there was embarrassment, and guilt. I closed my eyes, sent a prayer to Odin, and waited to feel the hot dragon fire wash over me.

But instead, the all noises from the Vikings and the Nightmare were suddenly muted by the shrill, piercing whistling noise that cut through the air, getting louder and louder, until—

The top of the cage burst open and a dark shape flung itself at the Nightmare.

A cloud of dust and fire smoke rose around us, shielding us from the Viking's eyes. I felt the claws of the Nightmare tear away from me, and then two different dragon screams. I rolled to the side, out of the smoke, and watched my saviour wrestle the Nightmare out of the smoke.

"Night Fury!" Gobber gasped.

Toothless scratched the Nightmare across the face and then bounded over to me, crouching protectively in front of me, blocking the Nightmare from getting to me. The Nightmare snapped and roared and tried to get past Toothless, but Toothless wouldn't let him get near me. He growled and snapped right back, until the Nightmare finally gave up and skittered away.

Amazed and out of breath, I got up and ran to Toothless. "Toothless, you have to go," I whispered, beginning to panic. Vikings were dropping into the ring, and they were holding weapons and staring at Toothless with anger. Toothless shook his head and growled, refusing to leave my side. "Toothless, go!" I urged.

Stoick suddenly was running toward Toothless, swinging an enormous axe around his head. "No Dad!" I cried. "He won't hurt you!" But as Toothless saw him coming, he immediately sprang at him, knocking him to the floor. I saw the fear in Stoick's eyes and the anger in Toothless's. And then I heard the hiss of gas and I knew what Toothless was going to do.

"TOOTHLESS, NOOOOO!" I screamed.

The fireball never came. Toothless suddenly relaxed his tensed muscles and turned to look at me sheepishly. I almost smiled with relief.

But then the Vikings pounced on him. They pulled him off Stoick and wrestled him to the ground. Toothless, still obedient to my words, didn't defend himself as they piled on top of him and held him down. "No!" I cried, trying to run over to Toothless. Astrid was suddenly beside me, pulling me away. "No…Toothless," I moaned as I tried to reach a hand out to my friend. "Don't hurt him…please don't hurt him…"

"Take it alive," Stoick's cold voice said. "Put it with the others."

* * *

Stoick dragged me by the back of my vest into the Hall of Heroes, ignoring my pleas. "Dad, you don't understand," I pleaded. "He was just trying to protect me!"

"I should have known," Stoick whispered, with emotion that held more than just anger, "I should have seen the signs."

"Dad—"

"We had a deal!" Stoick roared.

"I know, but—that was before I—oh, it's so messed up," I wailed.

"So, everything in the ring," said Stoick, quietly, "A trick? A lie?"

"I screwed up," I admitted. "I should have told you before now. Take this out on me, be mad at me, but _please_, just don't hurt Toothless."

Stoick looked shocked. "The dragon? _That's_ what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"

"He was just protecting me!" I wailed. "He's not a killer!"

"They've killed hundreds of us!" snarled Stoick.

"And we've killed thousands of them!" I countered. "They defend themselves, that's all! They raid us because they have to! If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves! There's something else on their island, Dad. It's a dragon—like—"

Stoick's eyes widened and he cut me off by exclaiming, "Their island? So you've been to the nest?"

I immediately realized I had given myself away. "Nest?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Did I say nest?"

"How did you find it?" Stoick demanded, jabbing a finger at me and causing me to step back.

"I didn't," I protested. "Toothless did. Only a dragon can find it…oh, no, Dad don't—!"

Stoick's eyes were widening as an idea formed in his head. He pushed past me and stalked toward the door. I ran after him, trying to grab his arm and pull him back. "Dad, no, you don't know what you're up against, it's like nothing you've ever seen—!"

Stoick kept walking, completely ignoring me. "Dad, please, I promise you. You can't win this one!" I cried. My eyes were beginning to feel damp. "_For once in your life will you please listen?_" I sobbed. Stoick suddenly turned and flung out his arm, throwing me to the ground. I lay on my back, staring up at him with fear. With the sun shining against Stoick's back, casting his face in shadow, he looked more like an angry god than my father. "You've thrown your lot in with them," he said coldly, "You're not a Viking." He shook his head and walked out of the door. "You're not my son."

"Ready the ships!" I heard him yell to his men outside.

* * *

An hour later, our entire fleet of ships were sailing across the ocean. Toothless had been collared, chained, and strapped to the front of Stoick's boat so he couldn't open his mouth to breathe fire or fly away. Stoick tore his eyes away from the trapped Night Fury for a second to look back at Berk and caught sight of something.

I was standing on a high bridge, staring down at Stoick. I refused to let myself be angry with him, because I knew he just didn't understand. I don't know if he could ever understand. But I knew that this could quite possibly be the last time I saw both Toothless and my dad, and I was not going to waste it crying in my room. So I stood on the bridge and looked down at them, trying not to let the tears escape down my face.

Stoick stared at me for a few seconds, then turned away without even a wave. "Set sail! We head for Helheim's gate," he yelled to his men. His voice echoed across the water. "Lead us home, Devil," he hissed at Toothless.

And then they were off.

Within half an hour, all the ships had long disappeared into the mist. I was still standing on the bridge, staring out to sea. I heard Astrid step up to stand beside me. I didn't acknowledge her presense when she spoke.

"It's a mess," she said, laughing with disbelief.

I didn't say anything, but I agreed with her.

"You must feel terrible," she continued. "You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend…"

"Thank you for summing that up," I said, sounding a bit snappish.

"Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I had found him in the woods?" I groaned. "It would have been better for all of us."

"Yup. The rest of us would have," Astrid agreed. She turned to me. "So why didn't you?" When I didn't answer, she repeated her question, "Why didn't you?"

"I—I don't know. I couldn't," I muttered, turning away.

"That's not an answer," Astrid said.

"Why does this matter to you all of a sudden?" I snapped.

"Because I want to remember what you say, right now," Astrid said, sounding almost admiring.

I'm almost ashamed to say, I blew up a little. "Oh for the love of—look, I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!" I said loudly.

"You said 'wouldn't' that time," said Astrid.

"Wh—whatever! Wouldn't!" I cried. "300 years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!" I turned away from her and stared sadly at the wooden floor in front of me.

"First to ride one, though," Astrid said quietly. I raised my head. "So..." she prompted.

I sighed. "I didn't kill him because he looked as scared as I was," I said softly. "I looked at him…and I saw myself."

"I bet he's really scared right now," Astrid said. "So what are you going to do about it?"

I sniffed and straightened up. "Eh…probably something stupid," I said casually.

"Good, but you've already done that," Astrid said, beginning to smile.

And then the most ridiculous idea I'd ever had in my life appeared in my brain. "Then something crazy," I said. I turned and bolted down the bridge, heading toward the arena.

"_That's_ more like it," grinned Astrid.

* * *

**I saw a firefly appear in the air above the screen as this scene was playing. My first firefly!**


	13. Battling the Green Death

**Here we go! Cue the big evil dragon...**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Battling the Green Death**

Stoick's fleets of ships were sailing through misty waters. The waves crashing against the sides of the boats were the only noise. Toothless was at the bow of Stoick's boat, head lowered, looking defeated. Stoick was staring out into sea with a murderous look on his face. The Vikings behind him were looking around at their surroundings uncertainly. Their leader was oblivious to everything except the Night Fury and the mist ahead.

Gobber approached him. "Listen, Stoick," he began, " I was overhearing some of the men just now, and—and well, you know, some of them are wondering what it is we are up to here? Not—not me, of course," he said hastily, "I—I know you're always the man with the plan, but some—not me—are—are wondering if, in fact, there is a plan at all, and what it might be?"

"Find the nest and take it," Stoick said.

"Oh," said Gobber. "Okay. The old Viking fallback. Send them running."

"Shh," said Stoick suddenly. Toothless had raised his head and was now looking around the misty scene. "Step aside," Stoick commanded, walking over to the back of the ship. He began to steer the ship in the direction Toothless was facing.

* * *

I imagined my dad sailing with Toothless toward the nest and sighed. Were they already dead? If Toothless cooperated and showed them the way, then they must be docking about now. Then they would be attacking the mountain with trebuchets and catapults and other fancy weapons and then the mountain would break and the monster would come out…

"If you're planning on getting eaten," came a voice from behind me, "I'd go with the Gronkle."

I turned around and my eyes widened as the entire dragon training class stood in front of me, looking at me with determination. Astrid was right in the middle, looking pleased and equally determined. They were actually going to help me…?

Tuffnut stepped forward. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadliest weapon." And then, just in case I didn't get it: "It's me."

Snotlout shoved him out of the way. "I LOVE this plan!" he exclaimed, causing me to take a step backward. This was Snotlout, agreeing to a plan made by me that he hasn't even heard yet?

Ruffnut pushed Snotlout aside. "You're crazy!" she said, sounding annoyed. Then she leaned closer to me and whispered, "I like that." Was she _flirting_ with me? I stared.

Astrid pulled her out of the way by the horns on her helmet (I breathed a sigh of relief) and stepped in front of me. "So, what is the plan?" she asked.

I looked behind her at the rest of the class and smiled.

* * *

A distant howl echoed across the choppy waters. Gobber looked around nervously. Stoick hadn't moved a muscle.

After a few more minutes, a dark shape appeared in front of them. The Vikings waited fearfully for their ship to sail closer. "That's not a good sign," one of them whispered. The shape was a longship, caught up on one of the rock formations jutting out of the mist. The mast was torn, and there were huge holes in the sides of the boat. Stoick didn't even bat an eyelash, but all the other Vikings were looking petrified. "Oh," Gobber tried to put some humor into the situation, "I was wondering where that went."

"Stay low and ready your weapons," Stoick said. Toothless suddenly jerked his head back, whining.

There was a sudden crunch as the boat hit land. A twisted smile split Stoick's face. "We're here," he said quietly.

The Vikings glanced around the island. A loud humming noise was echoing around the island. A small red tail hanging off one of the rocky ledges in the mountain suddenly pulled back and disappeared from sight.

Stoick leaped out onto the pebbly beach. As soon has his feet touched the stones, the humming stopped, and a very uneasy silence fell. Stoick's eyes widened, and he straightened up, looking, for the first time, slightly worried.

* * *

Minutes later, I was leading the Monstrous Nightmare out of the cage while it purred lazily. I guess there were no hard feelings from earlier that day. I heard admiring gasps from Fishlegs and the twins. Snotlout was looking extremely nervous watching me lead the Nightmare toward them. He reached for a short dagger to arm himself, but reluctantly dropped it when Astrid shook her head. "Nuh-uh," Astrid scolded.

I led the Nightmare up to Snotlout and, ignoring his protests, grabbed his hand and gently placed it on the dragon's nose. The dragon blinked slowly and purred.

After a couple of seconds, Snotlout began to laugh in the shock that he was petting a dragon. When I began to walk away, he immediately stopped laughing. "Where are you going?" he cried, not taking his eyes off the dragon.

I walked over to the supply bin and pulled out a rope. "You're going to want something you help you to hang on," I said.

The class looked at the other dragons I had lead out before the Nightmare and realized what I wanted them to do…

* * *

Vikings began hopping off the boats, bearing weapons. Others set up trebuchets along the beach. "When we crack this mountain open, all hell is going to break loose," he said to a few Vikings behind him.

"And my undies. Good thing I brought extra!" Gobber said.

"However this ends, it ends today!" Stoick said firmly.

He nodded at the trebuchets. One by one they all went off and shot huge boulders at the mountain.

Stoick made his way across the beach toward the mountain as the boulders made contact with the side and crumbled away part of the mountain, revealing a huge black tunnel. Stoick stood at the tunnel's mouth and stared into the blackness. Behind him, a group of Vikings set another boulder on fire and fired it towards the mouth. The fire-lit boulder sailed over Stoick's head and through the tunnel, its light revealing hundreds—thousands of dragons inside the tunnel.

Stoick let out a battle cry and charged into the cave.

Dragons flew in all directions. Stoick waved his axe around at the dragons inside the tunnel, while the Vikings waved their own weapons at the dragons on the beach. The dragons didn't try to fight the Vikings. They just dodged the weapons and flew away, out to sea. It was over in less than five minutes.

"Is that it?" Gobber said, staring at the disappearing shapes in the mist. He shrugged, and then yelled, "WE DID IT!"

The Vikings burst into wild cheers. Stoick was grinning. So there. They had done it.

In the boat, however, Toothless was trying desperately to free himself from his bonds. He whimpered and watched his fellow dragons fly away. Oh, this was not good.

Suddenly there was a loud rumble from the mountain. Stoick looked back into the tunnel, which had begun to shake. Then he realized that they hadn't really won yet. "This isn't over!" he yelled above the cheering. "Form your ranks! Hold together!" He ran down from the tunnel's mouth and into the crowd. As the rumbling grew louder, the Vikings stopped cheering and looked uneasy.

An avalanche of rocks was falling inside the tunnel. Slowly, a gigantic head began to appear from the darkness.

The mountainside exploded and the monstrous dragon head, snapping its jaws furiously, appeared, sending the bravest Vikings running for their lives.

"Beard of Thor, what is that?" Gobber gasped.

"Odin help us," Stoick whispered.

The monster shook the rock off its hide and lifted its head to the sky, letting out a bone-chilling roar.

"CATAPULTS!" roared Stoick. A few Vikings ran back to the catapults and began firing boulder after boulder at the beast's mouth. The boulders shattered against the monster's thick hide. It didn't even feel them. It did seem to make it angry, though.

"Get to the ships!" someone yelled. "NO!" Stoick cried, but already most of the Vikings were running for the fleet. The dragon lowered its mighty head and torched the entire fleet, cutting off any means of escape by sea. The Vikings who had been on the ships at the time screamed and plummeted into the sea.

"Smart, that one," commented Gobber.

"I was a fool," spat Stoick. "Lead the men to the far side of the island!"

"Right!" one of the Vikings said formally, and ran off to do so.

"Gobber," said Stoick, turning to his friend, "go with the men."

"I think I'll stay," said Gobber. "Just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."

Stoick stopped in his tracks and faced Gobber. "I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt."

Instead of protesting, Gobber grabbed Stoick's hand. "Then I can double that time," he said, grinning.

Stoick smiled.

"Here!" Stoick yelled, running around to the dragon's right side.

"Oh, no, here!" Gobber shouted, running to its left. The dragon turned to Gobber, then Stoick.

"Oy!" Gobber yelled, throwing a rock at the dragon's head. "I'm over here!"

The dragon turned to flame Gobber, but Stoick hurled a spear at its jaw and made it turn to face the chief instead. "No, eat me!" Stoick yelled.

"No!" Gobber yelled, as the dragon turned its head again, confused, "Eat ME!"

The dragon shook its head and roared. Then it opened its mouth and prepared to end the lives of both Vikings below—

—when something smacked it in the side of the head and caused it to turn…

* * *

I really wished that I had gotten a good look at Stoick's face when we arrived. When the whole thing was over, if I survived, it would be funny to look back on his disbelieving expression when I led the class into the battle riding the dragons. "Ruff, Tuff, watch your back!" I hollered. "Move, Fishlegs!"

Snotlout had taken over the Nightmare. Fishlegs hopped aboard the Gronkle. The twins each had a head from the Zippleback. I was riding the Nadder with Astrid, but hopefully I would find Toothless soon and leave the Nadder for Astrid alone. "Look at us!" Tuffnut yelled at the Vikings below. "We're on dragons! We're on dragons! All of us!"

Sure enough, when we arrived, the monster had broken free of the mountain and was busy torching the fleet of Viking ships while several Vikings—including Gobber and Stoick—ran around the beast's legs, trying to distract him. "Fishlegs," I called out to him, for I knew he was the real dragon expert here, "Break it down for us!"

"Heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing! Stay clear of both! Small eyes, flared nostrils; relies heavily on hearing and smell!" Fishlegs shouted, sounding like he'd swallowed the dragon manual. Speaking of the dragon manual, what kind of dragon was this monster, anyway? I studied its moldy green hide and jagged teeth. Green...Death...

"Good," I said. "Fish, 'Lout, hide in its blind spot. Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit. Make it mad."

"That's my specialty," Ruffnut grinned, looking like she was enjoying herself hugely.

"Since when?" Tuffnut scoffed, "Everybody knows I'm more irritating. See?" He flipped the poor dragon's neck over so he was hanging upside down in his sister's face and stuck his tongue out.

"Just listen to me, okay?" I yelled, pointing at Snotlout and Fishlegs, who were zooming toward the dragon already. The twins got the idea and zoomed off after them. "I'll be back as soon as I can!" I cried, steering the Nadder into the forest of flames that were the remains of Stoick's ships. I knew Toothless had to be in here somewhere.

As I navigated the dragon through the fire, I heard the Green Death roaring behind me, furious. The twins were obviously doing a good job. I heard Fishlegs cry out, "Uh, this thing doesn't have a blind spot!" There was another loud roar, and lots of banging noises. "It's working!" Snotlout cried. "It's working!" Fishlegs echoed. I suddenly wondered if their mounts would be affected by the noise too. And sure enough...

"I lost power of the Gronkle!" Fishlegs cried. "Snotlout, do something!"

I suddenly spotted a dash of black in the red world around me. "There," I said. I made sure Astrid had the Nadder in control, touched her shoulder for good luck, and then jumped off the Nadder, onto the boat, in front of Toothless. He looked panicked but happy to see me. "Go help the others!" I yelled to Astrid. She nodded and took off. I was alone with Toothless.

First thing, I tugged the leather strap around his mouth off, so he could open his mouth. "Okay," I panted, struggling to pull the chains away from the Night Fury's body. "I'll get you out, don't worry…"

But would I?

At that moment, the fiery world around us blew up and then disappeared. The Green Death had slapped us with his tail by accident or on purpose and sent us both flying into the water. Toothless, still chained by his neck to the plank of wood, was sinking fast.

The water was maybe ten feet deep, and Toothless, big as he was, definitely couldn't stretch his head above the waves to breathe. He was struggling frantically, but he wasn't coming free. I swam down to my best friend and hopelessly tugged on the chains until I thought my lungs would burst. But I wouldn't abandon Toothless. As my vision swam in front of me and my lungs began to burn, there was only one thought in my head.

I was going to die, and so was Toothless.

He had stopped struggling now. He knew it, too.

I felt someone's arm around my waist as they yanked me up. I heard a faint, helpless, watery dragon cry from below me, and then my head broke the surface of the water and I coughed up salty ocean water as my savior dumped my on the dry land. I blinked the water out of my eyes and looked up just in time to see Stoick dive into the water.

"Dad?" I croaked out weakly.

* * *

Below the surface, Toothless had given up. His eyes were slowly closing, and any moment now his breath was going to leave him. But then he felt a current hit his face and he looked up in shock…

Right into the eyes of Stoick the Vast.

Human and dragon stared at each other. Enemies for centuries faced each other with understanding.

Stoick quickly swam forward and with one tug, freed the Night Fury from his bonds. Toothless hovered in the water for a moment, then grabbed Stoick by the back of his cape and shot up towards the surface.

* * *

Toothless suddenly erupted out of the water, carrying Stoick with him. He dropped Stoick on the beach and crouched down, facing the Green Death. He turned around and impatiently gestured for me to jump on. "You got it, bud," I said, grinning in relief. I grabbed the saddle and jumped up onto my dragon's back. As I was strapping myself in, Stoick stopped us.

"Wait," he gasped, shaking water out of his eyes. "Hiccup, I'm sorry. For everything."

"Yeah, me too, Dad," I said, feeling some of the guilt come back.

"You don't have to go out there," Stoick said, sounding pleading.

"We're Vikings!" I said. "It's an occupational hazard!"

Stoick actually managed a small smile. "I'm very proud to call you my son," Stoick said, grasping my hand for one brief moment.

At this, I smiled too. "Thanks, Dad," I said softly.

Then Toothless launched into the sky to join the battle.

"HE'S UP!" Astrid cried happily as I appeared in the sky. "Get Snotlout OUT of there!" I noticed that Snotlout had somehow ended up on the Green Death's head, hanging off one of its horns. "I'm on it!" Ruffnut shouted. "I'm on it first!" Tuffnut shot back. Ruffnut, making sure she had a firm grip on the horns of her dragon, leaned back and kicked at her brother adn they continued to spit insults. Snotlout scrambled to the top of the Death's head and, putting his faith in the twins, leaped off into open air. The twins swooped in and by some miracle managed to snatch Snotlout out of trouble. "I can't believe that actually worked!" I heard him say as they flew past me.

I saw Astrid trying to steer her Nadder out of the battle, but the Death opened its mouth and, to my horror and probably Astrid's too, the vacuum began to draw Astrid and her steed toward the ugly, gaping mouth. I quickly urged Toothless forward. We dive-bombed the Death and just as we were feet away, Toothless shot a blast at the Death's snout. We swerved away as the Death's muzzle jerked away and it roared in pain. The Nadder jerked forward as it was released from the suction, and Astrid fell off.

I gasped and urged Toothless to dive.

Just before we all hit the ground, we swooped over her and Toothless grabbed at something before jetting into the air again. "Did you get her?" I asked worriedly, just to make sure. Toothless ducked his head and looked upside down at Astrid, who was no longer upset at being grabbed by the Night Fury. She was smiling.

Toothless opened his mouth and gave her a wide, toothless smile.

We dropped her gently on the ground and then shot back into the air again. As we climbed higher into the sky, I glanced back and saw what was on the Death's back. "That thing has wings," I told Toothless. "Let's see if it can use them." Toothless halted, turned, and dive-bombed the Death again, hitting him right in the back.

The Death toppled over with a roar and an enormous crash.

And then, very slowly, gigantic, scarred wings extended from the monster's back…

* * *

**I was desperately grabbing at the arm rests on my chair when they dive-bombed it, trying not to fall off Toothless. Even though I wasn't actually on him. I got way too into that movie. **


	14. Counter Attack

_Sorry this one is so short. But it had its own song in the soundtrack so I figured a whole chapter to itself is in order. Thank you for reviewing and enjoy this chapter! _

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Counter Attack**

"Think that did it?" I asked Toothless, glancing behind me. There was a massive roar, and then I saw the dragon flying after us. It was amazing its wings could still lift it, what with it being so bulky, plus the fact that it probably hadn't flew for over three hundred years.

"Well, it can fly," I said to Toothless as we sped through the air. The Vikings below on the beach watched us fly. The colossal Green Death had proved that its wings could still lift it, and it was mad as Hel when she was in one of her moods. We angled up higher into the sky, toward the dark clouds above us. The Death roared and tried to blast us with fire. "Okay, Toothless, time to disappear!" I hollered. We shot up into the clouds like a bullet and vanished.

From my position on Toothless, hiding in the midst of the black storm clouds, I could see that the Death was confused. It was turning its head from side to side, looking but not finding us evading it.

Its head was knocked to the side as Toothless hit it with one of his blasts of blue fire. The Death shrieked and whipped around to try and find us, but Toothless was too quick, and he shot the Death once, twice, thrice more at its wings, until he only had one shot left. We veered off as the Death temporarily lost control of its wings and began a slow descent toward the ground, its wings flailing around in the air. It shook its head from side to side and unleashed a long stream of fire that looped through the air like a ribbon. Toothless managed to dodge most of it, but one little flicker latched onto his artificial fin and ignited it immediately. Toothless dove down, looking like his tail was on fire. My worry was beginning to grow. Not because the fire was hurting Toothless—dragons are mostly fireproof on the outside—but because now that he was alight, the Death could easily see us. And now it came after us at top speed, having regained use of its wings. "Okay, time's up," I whispered. "Let's see if this works."

Toothless whined in exhaustion. "I know," I soothed, trying to sound calm. "Just bear with me a little longer, buddy." Then I raised my voice and steered Toothless around the Death. "C'mon, is that the best you can do?" The Death tried to snap us up, but it couldn't find us. Toothless began speeding back toward the ground.

Behind us, the Death opened its mouth and roared again. "Wait for it…" I hissed.

Then I heard the loud hiss of gas as it prepared to blast us.

"NOW, TOOTHLESS!" I yelled.

Toothless flipped around in midair so we were flying backwards, facing the Death's open mouth. With his last shot, Toothless fired right at the ball of green gas forming in the Death's throat.

The Death's eight eyes widened as the gas inside it ignited, creating a large, deadly fireball in its throat. Unlike the Terror, who came out unharmed, the Death's throat caught on fire and slowly began to travel down. Toothless turned around again and zoomed toward the ground.

Behind us, the Death was plummeting. It spread its wings and tried to slow its fall, but its wings were tearing, and several holes had ripped through the membrane.

With an explosion that could be heard up in Valhalla, the Green Death hit the ground and exploded.

Fire began to consume it. Toothless sped along the Death's back as the fire reared up behind us. The material on Toothless' artificial fin finally succumbed to the fire, and my heart skipped a beat as the cloth was torn off, leaving only the metal frame. We couldn't steer. I looked up ahead to see if we had a clear path—

—and saw that we were heading straight for the club on the dragon's tail. "Oh no," I whispered as I realized that this time we might not make it. "Oh no, no, NO—!"

My body slammed into something rock hard.

Then I was falling through a hot, fiery world, with the roaring of flames nearing me from below and the crying of Toothless above me. I felt something cool wrap around me as I plummeted downward, and then I crashed and I knew no more.

* * *

_(shivers) Dramatic, much? _

_I got The Art of How to Train Your Dragon three days ago! It's actually my Dad's, but he has a deadline he's working on so he let me read it first. :)))))))))))) It surprised me how thin it was...I was expecting it to be a lot thicker. I mean, The Art of Kung Fu Panda was pretty thick, so I figured HTTYD would be too, but oh well...it was worth reading it anyway, since it's the best movie ever. DID YOU KNOW THEY WERE CONSIDERING MAKING SNOTLOUT A GIRL?_


	15. Where's Hiccup?

**Sorry for the extremely long wait...by the time I was ready to post the chapter we had a heat wave and my parents decided to keep the computer off for a few das so it doesn't get overheated. Whoever thinks Canada is covered in snow is crazy. It's like a sauna here right now!**

**I bet you can guess that this chapter is not from Hiccup's point of view. But I just thought I'd say it anyway.**

**Enjoy the second to last chapter! (sigh...)**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Where's Hiccup?**

Grey dust swirled around the island. There was a heavy cough from somewhere in the mist, and then Stoick appeared, trudging through the rocks and frantically scanning the area for traces of his son. "Hiccup!" he rasped, inhaling a lot of dust. He coughed. "Hiccup!" he called a bit louder. "SON!" The dust in front of him thinned out a little and he saw something that made him freeze.

A large, dark, motionless shape was lying on the ground in front of him.

"Hiccup!" gasped Stoick, running forward.

Toothless was lying on the ground, his wings folded tightly around him like a bat. His head was tucked into his wings, and he didn't appear to be breathing. The remains of his fin, a few mangled, twisted metal pieces, were still attached to his tail.

"Oh…" Stoick sighed, an immense sadness rushing through him. "Oh, son…" He knelt down in front of the dragon and bowed his head. "I did this," he whispered, as the rest of the Vikings began to appear behind him. As the Vikings caught sight of Stoick kneeling in front of the Night Fury, they gasped and then bowed their heads in respect. Bowed their heads in respect for Hiccup and Toothless, the pair that had opened everyone's eyes to what they had been missing all the years that Vikings had lived in Berk.

The training dragons raised their heads above the crowd to look at Toothless. Nobody objected to the dragons being so close to them.

Astrid and Gobber elbowed their way to the front of the crowd and began to dash over to Stoick, but they quickly stopped and gasped in horror as they saw Toothless. Astrid felt her face fall and tears rush to her eyes.

Hiccup was dead.

Toothless was dead.

Or was he?

Toothless suddenly stirred. He raised his head weakly and slowly blinked up at Stoick. Stoick looked back at the Night Fury. Toothless saw the tears in Stoick's eyes. "Oh son…" Stoick whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Toothless cocked his head as he heard Stoick's words. He looked at something within his wings. Then he slowly unfurled his wings. Wrapped safely in his arms was…

…Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" gasped Stoick, reaching forward and grabbed the unconscious teen. He gently shook Hiccup's head, and then yanked off his helmet and pressed his head to his chest to listen for a heartbeat. And he wasn't disappointed. "He's alive!" Stoick breathed, tears of new emotion coming to his eyes. "You brought him back alive!"

The crowd of Vikings behind him erupted with wild cheering and clapping. Astrid's hands flew to her mouth in surprise, and she laughed as more tears poured down her cheeks. The dragons lowered their heads and crooned happily. The Vikings in the crowd closest to them cautiously reached out their hands in a gesture thought impossible.

Stoick laid his hand on Toothless's head. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "For saving my son."

Toothless nodded his head and then closed his eyes and laid his head on the ashy beach.

"Well, you know," said Gobber, coming up at that very moment, "Most of him."

Gobber and Stoick looked at Hiccup's leg.


	16. Coming Back Around

**Last chapter is now up. The tale is complete. ****At least for now...**

**Hopefully when a sequel comes around I can write that too. I know for sure that when I get the DVD, I'm going to watch The Legend of the Bonekapper Dragon and write that. :D Maybe I'll even do the Winter games, just for fun!**

**And before I shut up and you can finish the story, I wanna say one last thing:**

**HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON FOREVER!**

**~Catnip-Packet**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Coming Back Around**

Warmth. All around me was warmth. I was lying on something very, very soft. My left leg was itching uncomfortably, and several places on my face felt burned. Something warm and scaly nudged my cheek. I blinked slowly and then opened my eyes to see Toothless blinking down at me with concern. "Hey, Toothless," I said weakly, smiling and reaching out to pet him. He started nudging my face anxiously, lifting his front legs onto the bed. "I'm happy to see you too, buddy—AGH!"

Toothless stepped on my stomach by accident, and I bolted upright, hugging my stomach in pain. I looked around at my surroundings. "Ah…I'm in my house," I realized. I looked at Toothless, who was shaking slightly, and licking his lips nervously. "You're in my house," I said in shock. "Does my dad know you're here?"

Toothless began tearing around the room like crazy, knocking over furniture and climbing up on the rafters. "Toothless!" I cried. "No, no, Toothless!" Toothless paused and looked at me. "Toothless, come on," I said, starting to get out of bed before I even thought to pull the covers away. But as I lifted the fold of orange wool off my legs, my eyes fell on my left leg, and I stopped.

Toothless silently dropped to the ground and watched me nervously.

I sighed, not knowing how to feel. I almost felt tears prick my eyes, but I held them back, knowing full well that crying would not fix anything.

I slowly swung my right leg over the bed to rest on the ground.

Then I let my metal leg rest beside it with a soft clink.

I breathed hard and looked at Toothless with disbelief. So this was how it felt to lose a limb. Halfway down my shin, my leg ended and a metal appendage began. I had not expected to come out of the battle completely unscathed, and I was not surprised to feel painful burns all over my body. But a full-on missing limb? It was too much to take in. I took a deep breath, in through my nose and out through my mouth. I slowly stood up and put my weight on my fake leg. The pain made me hiss. I quickly straightened up and took another deep breath. I stepped forward again and this time the pain sent me falling to the floor. Toothless caught me just in time. I looked into the Night Fury's eyes. "Okay…" I whispered, carefully standing up. "Thanks, buddy," I said softly, using Toothless as a crutch to shuffle over to the door.

I let go of Toothless for a second to pull open the door.

A Monstrous Nightmare was hovering right outside.

I slammed the door shut. "Uh, Toothless?" I said. "Stay here." I opened the door again and stared.

"C'mon guys, get ready, one more time, here we go!" cried Snotlout from the Nightmare, and the Nightmare took off, followed by about four others with Viking men riding them, looking bewildered and excited at the same time.

I stepped outside and stared. "What the…"

A group of Nadders were nesting on the roof of a house. A group of Terrors were play fighting on top of a pile of fish in a wagon. A Gronkle was helping a Viking chop wood. A Nadder strolled by with a little kid on its back. All the weapons were in a messy pile off to the side. The Vikings and the dragons were working and playing beside each other, completely relaxed.

"I knew it," I said. "I'm dead."

I heard hearty laughter, and Stoick approached me. "No, but you gave it your best shot." He gestured to the changed world. "What do you think?" I shook my head, beginning to smile. It was amazing, but I couldn't find the words to say it.

Somebody below noticed me, and then there were cries of "It's Hiccup! He's alive!" echoing around Berk as a crowd of Vikings raced up the hill towards me. I noted that at least half of them had a Terror on their backs.

"It turns out that what we needed was more of…_this_," said Stoick, sweeping his hands down in front of me.

"But…you just gestured to all of me," I said, smiling.

Stoick beamed at me proudly and nodded.

"Well, most of you," said Gobber, stepping in front of me and pointing to my artificial leg. "That part's my handiwork. With a little 'Hiccup' flair! Do you think it'll do?"

I stuck my leg out in front of me and pretended to inspect it. "I might make a few tweaks," I joked, and the Vikings all laughed.

And then somebody punched me. Hard. On my right arm. I cried out in pain and turned around, rubbing my arm. Astrid was standing there in the grass, her hand still in a fist. "_That_ was for scaring me," she said, an odd smile on her face. Why did she take such joy in hurting me?

"Wh—what?" I stuttered in frustration, taking my hand away from my arm. "Is it always going to be like this? Because I—"

But before I could finish my sentence, Astrid grabbed the front of my tunic, stepped forward, and kissed me full on the mouth.

If she hadn't been holding onto me I probably would have keeled over.

After a few seconds she pulled away, leaving me standing there with a dazed look on my face. I let the feel of her lips on mine linger before I spoke again. "—I could get used to it," I finished.

Astrid gave me a satisfied sort of smile.

Gobber stepped forward and placed something made of metal and red material in my arms. "Welcome home," he said, smiling. I looked down at the new fin in my arms and smiled.

"NIGHT FURY!" one of the Vikings suddenly cried. "GET DOWN!" another shrieked.

I whirled around and saw Toothless bounding over the heads of several Vikings to stand in front of me, looking at me with big puppy-dog eyes. He impatiently gestured to his new fin in my arms, trying to tell me to put it on him and get going. Astrid laughed. I grinned at her, then at Toothless.

Seconds later I was back on Toothless. A new saddle had been built especially for my prosthetic, so the metal fit naturally in the stirrups. Toothless's new fin was swaying gently in the breeze beside his real one. It was bright red and had a white skull painted on it. Astrid was beside me on her Nadder. The Nadder reared up and prepared to take flight. Astrid grinned at me before she disappeared from my side into the air. Just before Toothless took off, I smiled again at the changed world around me.

_This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. _

Toothless took off and we chased Astrid and her Nadder through the sky. We soon caught up with her and pulled in front, both of us laughing and cheering breathlessly.

_Any food that grows here is tough, and tasteless. The people that grow here are…even more so. _

The rest of the teens joined us on their dragons. We looped under bridges and in between houses, flying through our village.

_The only upsides are the pets. While some places have ponies, or parrots..._

Toothless angled up into the sky. I felt the clouds wash over my face as we flew skywards, and for that one moment I felt free and happy, with no care in the world.

The war was over. My dad was finally proud of me for the right reason. The other teens weren't shunning me anymore. The rest of the Vikings thought I was a hero. _Astrid kissed me!_ And best of all, I didn't need to keep Toothless a secret anymore. Me and my best friend could finally be together.

___We have…_DRAGONS!


End file.
